HE  WAR  GUILT 
PEACE  CRIME 

OP  THE 
ENTENTE  ALLIES 


The  War  Guilt  and  Peace  Crime 
of  the  Entente  Allies 


BY 
STEWART  E.  BRUCE 


F.  L.  SEARL  &  CO. 

New  York 

1920 


Copyright  1920,  by 
STEWART  E.  BRUCE 


Printed  by 

THE  MCARDLE  PRESS,  INC, 
New  York 


PREFACE 

I  have  held  the  belief  from  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle  that  Russia,  Great  Britain  and  France  were 
essentially  as  guilty  of  bringing  on  the  World  War  as 
Germany.  Even  if  this  guilt  had  been  very  generally 
recognized,  a  book  such  as  this  might  have  been 
deemed  neither  wise  nor  expedient,  provided  the  vic- 
tors had  atoned  for  their  share  in  the  guilt  by  acting 
with  some  degree  of  moderation  when  the  time  for 
settlement  had  arrived.  But  when  the  terrible  nature 
of  the  Peace  settlement  is  contemplated,  one  would  be 
untrue  to  his  own  conscience  as  well  as  lacking  in 
duty  to  humanity  if  no  attempt  were  made  to  re- 
open this  whole  question,  now  that  free  speech  and 
a  free  press  are  again  in  our  possession. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  show  the  guilt  of 
the  Entente  Allies,  America's  unwise  participation  in 
the  struggle,  the  evil  nature  of  the  Peace  settlement 
and  most  important  of  all — the  structural  changes 
which  will  be  necessary  in  the  governments  of  such 
countries  as  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany  and 
America,  to  the  end  that  the  people  will  become  the 
real  masters  of  their  own  destiny,  so  that  a  repetition 
of  such  a  world  calamity  may  not  again  occur. 

THE  AUTHOR. 
670  St.  John  Ave., 
Pasadena,  California. 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  I 


Introductory 


CHAPTER  II 
Great  Britain 29 

CHAPTER  III 
France 65 

CHAPTER  IV 
Russia 73 

CHAPTER  V 
The  United  States 75 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Peace  of  Versailles 122 

CHAPTER  VII 
The  Lessons  and  the  Remedy 149 


What  in  me  is  dark 
Illume,  what  is  low,  raise  and  support; 
That  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument 
I  may  assert  eternal  Providence 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men. 

— Milton. 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTORY. 

Peace,  above  all  else,  is  what  the  world  needs  to- 
day— not  physical  peace  alone,  but  mental  and  spir- 
itual peace  as  well. 

Germany  is  crushed.  The  Kaiser  is  a  refugee.  The 
triumphant  armies  of  the  Allies,  for  the  most  part, 
have  returned  to  their  respective  countries,  and  their 
battle  flags  are  furled. 

The  great  leaders  representing  the  victors,  after 
months  of  labor,  have  presented  to  the  world  a  "Peace 
Treaty,"  presumably  in  accordance  with  the  lofty 
war  aims,  which  were  set  forth  from  time  to  time 
during  the  course  of  the  conflict  and  which  were  to 
serve  as  a  rallying  cry  for  the  hosts  of  "freedom 
against  autocracy." 

The  conquered  peoples  have  abjectly  accepted  the 
terms  of  their  conquerors.  Since  the  Armistice  was 
signed  the  winter  snows  have  fallen,  the  grass  has 
grown  green  and  again  the  snow  falls  on  Flanders 
Fields,  and  yet  there  is  no  peace  anywhere  in  the 
world  except  perchance  the  peace  that  death  has 
brought  to  the  millions  who  are  the  victims  of  this 
appalling  sacrifice. 

We  heard  the  cry'Teace,"  "Peace"  but  there  is  no 
peace.  Civilization  to-day  stands  rebuked.  The 
scourge  is  on  the  bare  back  of  every  country,  both 
ally  and  enemy.  The  heavens  are  dark  with  the 
avenging  wrath  of  the  Almighty  God.  Governments 
are  trembling  as  if  by  palsy.  Envy,  hatred,  revenge, 
excesses,  violence,  starvation  and  death  stalk  up  and 

[1] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

down  the  lands.    Truly,  we  have  sown  to  the  wind 
and  now  we  are  reaping  the  whirlwind. 

What  harvest  may  the  world  expect  from  such  a 
sowing?  What  manner  of  harvest  must  we  reap,  if 
for  five  long  seasons  we  sow  lies,  hatred,  revenge, 
malice  where  once  grew  mercy,  kindness  and  truth? 

No  miracle  can  save  the  world  from  the  black  abyss 
into  which  it  has  fallen.  Our  disease  is  not  merely 
collective  but  it  is  also  individual.  The  tares  must 
be  uprooted  from  the  garden  of  each'  heartland  truth, 
charity,  humanity  and  love  must  be  substituted. 
There  is  but  one  formula  to  be  applied — "Know  the 
Truth  and  the  Truth  will  make  you  free." 

What  the  world  needs  to  know  now  for  its  temporal 
salvation  is  the  Truth.  Truth  about  their  leaders, 
truth  about  their  enemies,  and  truth  about  them- 
selves. 

If  lies  led  the  world  astray  then  it  is  manifest  that 
truth  is  the  only  hope  of  the  world  to-day. 

It  is  hard  to  forgive  your  enemy  and  make  peace 
with  him  if  you  continue  to  believe  that  you  were 
entirely  right  and  he  is  entirely  wrong,  but  if  you 
should  find  extenuating  circumstances  in  his  favor, 
or  should  discover  that  there  was  blame  on  both  sides, 
enmity  in  all  likelihood  would  soon  pass  away. 

No  real  peace  can  come  to  the  world  'until  the  real 
truth  about  this  war  is  known  to  all.  If  the  world 
has  been  led  astray  by  falsehoods,  by  lying  propa- 
ganda, by  organized  and  systematic  misrepresenta- 
tion, and  if  hatred  and  revenge  has  taken  possession 
of  the  human  heart  thereby,  it  is  evident  that  truth 
is  the  essential  rectifying  and  restoring  agent.  It  is 
indeed  not  necessary  for  you  to  know  that  your 

[2] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

enemy  was  right  and  you  wrong  in  order  to  lay  a 
basis  for  reconciliation,  but  it  is  of  equal  impor- 
tance often  to  know  that  both  of  you  were  to  blame— 
and  quite  equally.  If  on  investigation  it  were  determin- 
ed that  the  Allies  were  equally  to  blame  with  Germany 
in  being  responsible  for  the  late  war,  the  whole  heart 
of  humanity  would  change  its  attitude  and  a  new 
spirit  of  forgiveness  would  follow,  and  this  in  itself 
would  tend  to  bring  true  world  peace.  If  it  were 
found  that  Britain,  France  and  Russia  were  equally 
guilty  with  Germany  then  we  are  in  honor  bound  to 
acknowledge  this  fact  in  justice,  if  for  no  other  reason, 
to  the  twelve  millions  of  Germans  in  America  who 
before  the  war  were  considered  highly  desirable  and 
useful  citizens,  and  who  while  the  war  lasted  were 
the  victims  of  all  the  artifices  that  malignant  hatred 
ould  conjure.- 

In  this  volume  as  a  contribution  to  truth  and  world 
peace,  I  will  endeavor  to  show:  (1)  that  Russia, 
France  and  England  were  all  guilty  and  all  contri- 
buted to  the  causing  of  the  world  war.X2)  The  par- 
ticular selfish  aim  and  object  which  each  country 
expected  to  attain,  as  a  result  of  the  war,  (3)  the 
heroic  andxstupid  parts  America  played  in  the  great 
war  tragedy.  (4)  what  means  must  be  taken  by 
the  people  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  such  a  ca- 
tastrophe. 

In  this  inquiry  for  truth  I  do  not  purpose  taking 
time  or  space  to  prove  Germany's  guilt.  That  task 
has  been  covered  in  every  detail  and  from  every  pos- 
sible angle  by  thousands  of  interested  and  disin- 
terested investigators.  The  contributions  on  this 
question  are  perhaps  more  voluminous  than  any  other 

[3] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

subject  in  all  history;  some  of  the  findings  being 
unbiased  and  enlightening,  but  the  greater  part  will 
and  can  only  be  purified  by  being  consigned  to  the 
flames,  unless  this  generation  desires  to  go  down  in 
history  as  being  the  victims  of  the  vilest  propaganda, 
and  the  most  unfair,  if  not  criminal  distortions  of  the 
truth  ever  experienced  by  man. 

Viewing  the  records  of  the  past  five  years,  a  dis- 
interested observer  might  be  pardoned  if  he  sincerely 
asked,  if  there  is  truth  in  anything,  anybody  or  any- 
where. All  things  seem  tinctured  or  distorted.  All 
sense  of  fitness,  fairness,  justice  and  proportion  seem 
to  have  vanished.  Reason,  for  the  present,  seems  to 
be  dethroned  and  men  are  governed  in  the  most  part 
by  their  primeval  and  baser  instincts.  The  cave  man 
to-day  is  grinning  through  the  thin  veneer  of  so-called 
civilization. 

Witness  for  example  the  monstrous  request  of  the 
British  and  French  nations  through  their  accredited 
spokesmen,  that  the  late  Emperor  of  Germany  be 
tried  by  them  for  high  crimes  committed  against  In- 
ternational law  and  order.  The  Kaiser  may  be  as 
guilty  as  all  Hell,  but  who  can  measure  the  degeneracy 
of  such  an  offense  against  elementary  justice  in  that 
any  man  should  be  brought  into  court  in  which  his 
revengeful  enemy  is  the  complainant,  prosecutor, 
judge,  jury  and  executor?  Had  a  trial  of  the  Kaiser 
been  desirable,  it  should  have  at  least  been  left  to  a 
court  made  up  of  neutrals  with  the  request  that  they 
not  only  pass  on  the  guilt  of  the  Kaiser  and  those 
associated  with  him,  but  that  they  should  also  pass 
judgment  on  all  the  leaders  who  had  any  part  in 
letting  loose  the  dogs  of  war  in  August,  1914.  This 

[4] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

one  act  or  request  by  a  responsible  British  statesman 
will  show  future  generations,  as  nothing  else  will, 
how  far  the  world  has  drifted  away  from  the  well 
established  and  universally  recognized  principles  of 
justice — principles  that  had  marked  prior  to  1914, 
the  high-water  mark  of  our  civilization. 

He  who  would  do  full  justice  to  friend  and  foe 
alike  in  order  that  Peace  may  be  hastened  on  this 
earth  must  before  all  else  recognize  in  heart  and  brain 
the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
and  free  himself  of  the  baleful  influence  of  that  tribal 
instinct  which  masquerades  under  the  guise  of  super- 
patriotism,  that  pagan  worship  of  the  state,  material 
though  it  is,  corrupt  though  it  is,  operates  always  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  plain  and  unmistakable  teachings 
of  Christ. 

When  the  question  of  simple  justice  is  in  the  balance, 
an  honest  man  will  know  no  city,  no  state,  no  nation 
or  kindred,  for  justice  has  no  bounds,  is  universal 
and  eternal. 

In  arriving  at  a  correct  judgment  as  to  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  Russia,  England  and  France,  we 
must  turn  back  the  pages  of  history  to  those  forma- 
tive and  eventful  days  in  1914  beginning  with  July 
26th,  and  ending  August  5th,  the  date  of  the  staging 
of  the  great  world  war  drama. 

The  neutral  press  covering  this  period  must  be 
consulted  to  some  extent  and  dissected  by  the  future 
historian  in  order  that  he  may  obtain  unpartisan  in- 
formation as  to  what  really  and  truly  did  occur  on 
those  momentous  days.  In  order  to  know  definitely 
the  opinion  of  the  world  as  expressed  and  reflected 
in  the  newspapers,  both  by  despatches  from  Europe 

[5] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

and  editorials  at  that  important  time  and  before 
propaganda  had  gotten  in  its  deadly  and  poisonous 
work,  we  of  necessity  are  compelled  in  this  inquiry 
to  rely  to  a  degree  on  the  press  of  these  dates,  among 
other  things  to  give  material  evidence  for  our  guid- 
ance in  reaching  a  verdict. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  proper  perspective,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  divide  into  four  arbitrary  divisions  the 
important  time  under  consideration,  namely: 

(1)  That  period  beginning  with  the  slaying  of  the 
Austrian  Crown  Prince  and  ending  August  5,  1914, 
the  day  when  Great  Britain  joined  Russia,  France 
and  Belgium  in  war  on  Germany. 

(2)  From  August  5,  1914  until  America  entered 
the  war. 

(3)  From  America's  entry  until  the  Armistice. 

(4)  From  the  Armistice  up  to  the  present. 

In  so-far-as  arriving  at  the  truth  regarding  placing 
the  guilt  on  the  heads  of  those  responsible  for  the 
world's  greatest  calamity  the  first  named  period  will, 
without  doubt,  be  chosen  by  the  impartial  historian 
of  the  future  as  the  one  in  which  the  records  are  more 
clear  and  clean  than  during  any  subsequent  period; 
that  period  in  which  the  crystal  streams  of  truth 
were  as  yet  comparatively  free  from  the  poisons  of 
propaganda;  when  men  spoke  their  minds  freely 
without  being  charged  with  pro  this  and  pro  that, 
and  when  men  read  history  with  their  understanding, 
and  less  through  the  spectacles  of  inflamed  passions 
and  prejudices. 

These  indeed,  were  the  days  of  free  speech,  free 
press  and  free  men — men  free  to  point  out  if  they 
cared  to  without  risk  of  imprisonment  such  out- 

[6] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

standing  facts  as,  for  instance — that  for  self  protection 
Germany  required  an  army  equal  to  the  combined 
strength  of  her  border  neighbors,  Russia  and  France; 
as  England  for  her  protection  required  a  navy  equal 
to  the  combined  strength  of  any  two  of  her  rivals; 
that  a  record  of  forty  years  of  peace  should  count  for 
something  before  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion;  that 
nearly  every  civilized  country  during  that  time  had 
their  hands  more  or  less  stained  with  human  blood, 
and  also  that  the  character  and  record  of  those 
arrayed  against  her,  as  attested  to  by  history,  en- 
titled their  pretended  war  aims  to  be  received  with 
at  least  as  much  suspicion  as  those  entertained  by 
fair-minded  men  against  Germany. 

We  cannot  turn  backward  old  time  in  its  flight  for 
a  day,  much  less  five  years,  but  we  can  turn  back  the 
printed  page  of  history  and  in  a  measure  re-live  the 
fateful  hours  of  the  past,  breathe  its  atmosphere  and 
drink  from  the  streams  of  truth,  which  often  happens 
are  clearer  at  their  source;  and  again  refresh  our 
memory  which  time  and  circumstances  have  dimmed 
or  distorted. 

As  a  preliminary  to  this  inquiry  as  to  war  causes 
and  war  guilt  the  records  and  impressions  as  con- 
tained in  the  press  at  that  time  must  now  be  recalled 
and  re-examined.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
nine-tenths  of  the  American  people  were  connected 
by  blood  relation  to  the  people*of  the  Entente  Allies, 
and  therefore  their  sympathy  would  naturally  goto 
them,  we  find  in  the  face  of  this  a  strong  public  sen- 
timent as  expressed  in  the  press,  condemning  all 
parties  engaged  in  the  European  contest. 

[7] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Foreign  news  for  American  publications  came 
through  the  Associated  Press  and  other  Non-Partisan 
news  agencies.  These  despatches  and  summaries  are 
usually  based  upon  verified  information,  and  in 
normal  times  reflects  conditions  truthfully  as  set 
forth  and  described.  Through  such  agencies  as  these, 
London  and  Berlin,  for  instance,  years  ago  received 
as  authentic  news  and  description  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco earthquake  as  did  the  people  of  California.  In 
such  cases  as  these  there  was  no  necessity  for  false- 
hood or  misrepresentation. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  up  to  August  5,  1914,  propa- 
ganda as  we  now  understand  it,  was  not  in  evidence 
and  could  not  be  detected  in  the  news  as  hourly  flashed 
from  London,  Paris,  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg.  Un- 
conscious partisanship  may  be  detected  in  both  the 
despatches  and  conclusions  but  take  it  as  a  whole, 
no  effort  was  made  to  influence  public  opinion,  and 
the  news  gatherers  and  contributors  were  true  and 
faithful  to  the  highest  traditions  of  the  newspaper 
calling. 

The  representatives  of  the  news  agencies  cabled 
the  news  as  they  got  it  and  accompanied  this  news 
with  descriptive  material,  reflecting,  to  the  best  of 
their  ability,  the  atmosphere,  and  the  lights  and 
shadows  surrounding  the  actors  as  they  began  playing 
their  parts  in  those  eventful  and  never-to-be  for- 
gotten days. 

On  the  morning  of  July  26, 1914,  the  world  awoke 
to  find  that  a  general  European  Wapflong  promised/ 
long  delayed,  was  not  only  a  possibility  but  now 
almost  a  stern  and  horrible  reality.  Half  a  score  of 
men  were  holding  in  the  hollow  of  their  hands  the 

[8] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

fate  of  Europe;  while  the  life  and  death  of  untold 
millions  rested  on  the  whim,  caprice  or  ambition  of 
men  whose  number  could  be  counted  on  the  fingers 
of  the  human  hand. 

God  Almighty  alone  knew  all  the  hidden  secrets 
of  the  heads  and  hearts  of  these  men,  but  it  has  surely 
been  left  to  mortals,  even  ordinary  mortals  to  divine 
at  least  some  of  the  motives  of  these  so-called  national 
Laders,  which  operating  at  the  time,  failed  to  stay 
the  hand  that  would  unleash  the  human  dogs  of  war. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  up  to  the  third 
week  in  July  the  Austro-Servian  difficulty  was  pu- 
rely local  in  character,  and  remained  so  until  the 
Russian  Czar  took  an  uncompromising  stand  in 
relation  thereto. 

Examine,  if  you  will,  not  necessarily  with  a  micro- 
scope, but  with  the  naked  eye,  that  bastard  child  of 
a  shameless  union  of  civilization  and  barbarism,  that 
hairy  half  animal  and  half  man,  that  tyrant  under 
whose  blonde  skin  flowed  the  blackest  and  crudest 
blood  of  Europe  and  then  ask  yourself  in  the  name 
of  God  and  humanity,  if  this  is  the  creature  that 
Great  Britain  and  France  acknowledged  as  leader 
and  blindly  followed  into  a  war  that  anyxmadman' 
would  know,  meant  the'destruction  of'  Europe.  Or, 
was  it  that  Great  Britain  and  France,  too  proud  to 
acknowledge  such  a  leadership,  used  this  Russian 
tyrant  and  his  two  hundred  million  slaves  as  a  hunter 
uses  his  hounds  to  tree  the  enemy  and  then  bag  him 
at  will  in  more  or  less  safety  and  security. 

Here,  for  example,  in  Southern  California,  pub- 
lished in  Los  Angeles,  are  two  typical  morning  news- 
papers— the  Daily  Times  and  Daily  Examiner.  More 

[9] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

than  a  million  people  depend  largely  on  these  papers 
for  their  local  and  world  news.  The  Examiner  has 
been  charged  with  being  Anti-British,  and  by  some 
Pro-German,  therefore  that  paper  will  be  excluded 
in  this  inquiry  and  the  cable  dispatches  and  editor- 
ials of  the  Times  will  be  presented  as  the  first  news- 
paper evidence,  among  numerous  others,  as  showing 
the  mind  of  Europe  and  the  American  sentiment 
that  obtained  between  July  26th,  when  a  general 
European  war  became  an  almost  foregone  conclusion, 
and  August  5th,  the  day  when  Great  Britain  decided 
to  cast  her  lot  with  Russia,  France  and  Belgium  in 
war  on  Germany.  After  August  5th  a  strict  censorship 
was  established,  and  a  screen  was  thrown  around 
Germany,  and  immediately  propaganda  was  begun 
under  British  leadership  to  whet  the  fighting  spirit 
of  the  Allies  and  win  for  their  cause  the  support  of 
neutral  nations.  Therefore,  the  following  despatches 
and  editorials,  free  from  the  censor  and  comparatively 
free  from  the  poison  of  propaganda  are  presented  as 
showing  that  a  large  portion  of  the  reputable  press 
of  America  believed  that  the  guilt  of  Russia,  Great 
Britain  and  France  was  clearly  manifest  and  the 
underlying  causes  for  the  European  war^antedated 
by  many  year§/the  murder  of  the  Austrian  Crown 
Prince.  It  will  be  shown  further,  that  these  same 
publications,  at  a  later  date,  in  obedience  to  the 
command  of  their  masters  or  of  race  prejudice,  joined 
in  a  general  condemnation  of  Germany  and  a  lauda- 
tion of  all  aims  and  objects  of  her  enemies.  It  will 
be  well  for  the  reader  to  examine  the  cable  despatches 
which  came  direct  from  London  and  also  to  note  the 
editorials,  which  at  the  time  expressed  spontaneous 

[10] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

convictions  and  then  compare  them  with  the  tirades 
of  later  dates. 

The  Daily  Times  of  Los  Angeles,  for  instance,  is 
typical  of  a  large  section  of  the  American  Press.  Up 
to  August  5,  1914,  the  American  papers,  had  at  their 
disposal  as  much  knowledge  of  war  causes  as  at  any 
subsequent  period  and  it  will  be  interesting  to  note 
their  attitude  then  and  compare  it  with  their  virulent 
and  inconsistent  position  later. 

For  instance,  on  July  31,  1914,  the  Los  Angeles 
Times  had  the  following  editorial;  written  after  view- 
ing the  whole  European  situation. 

"Russia  may  take  up  the  quarrel  that  she  has 
seemed  anxious  to  have  since  the  Crimean  War. 
France  scarcely  seems  to  conceal  her  expecta- 
tions that  she  will  be  drawn  into  the  conflict. 
Germany  is  bound  by  an  alliance  that  cannot 
well  be  ignored  at  so  crucial  a  time.  .  .  Em- 
peror William  called  with  picturesque  inappro- 
priateness  "the  war  lord  of  Europe'^is  trying  to 
maintain  harmony.',* 

On  August  2nd  (three  days  before  Britain  declared 
war)  the  Times  had  the  following  interesting  editorial: 
"Britain  is  smiling;   they  laugh  at  how  Ger- 
many is  putting  her  foot  into  the  sea;  England 
knows  who  is  ready  for  the  sea  and  who  is  not. 
England  has  been  unhappy  about  Germany's 
idea  of  a  fleet  for  some  time.    There  will  be  a 
noise  like  a  crack  of  doom  Over  There  if  this 
continues  to  look  like  England's  opportunity." 

The  Times  was  right.     Three  days  later,  on 
August  5th  it  did  look  like  Britain's  opportunity.  Her 

[11] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

enemy  and  trade  rival  was  almost  surrounded— 
Russia  on  one  side  and  France  on  the  other  ready  to 
dismember  her.  Could  anything  be  more  to  Brit- 
ain's liking? 

On  August  5th,  the  Times  on  a  prominent  part  of 
the  first  page  gives  the  reasons  why  each  country  is 
at  war. 

(1)  Russia's  desire  to  have  supremacy  in  Eastern 
Europe. 

(2)  Germany  to  fulfil  obligations  to  Austria,  also 
to  cripple  her  rapidly  growing  rival. 

(3)  France  as  an  ally  of  Russia  to  get  back  lost 
provinces. 

(4)  England  to  support  France  and  Russia,  to 
cripple  her  rapidly  growing  Naval  rival. 

CABLE  DESPATCHES 

The  morning  of  July  26th,  1914  brought  the  first 
cablegrams  which  apprized  the  American  people 
that  a  general  European  war  was  imminent.  These 
despatches  will  prove  at  the  present  time  both  inter- 
esting and  instructive. 

(BY  ATLANTIC   CABLE   AND   ASSOCIATED 
PRESS) 

London,  July  26th  "The  vital  question  to  Europe 
is  whether  Russia  will  come  to  the  rescue  of  her 
little  Slav  brother  involving  the  other  powers 
and  making  of  the  war  a  dread  struggle  of  the 
Slav  against  Teuton  for  European  supremacy." 

[12] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

London,  July  26th  "Report  from  St.  Petersburg 
says  that  Russia  is  mobilizing,  but  it  is  to  be 
remembered/lhat  Russia  mobilized  to  some  ex- 
tent when  Austria  annexed  Bosnia/and  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  stepped  to  the  side  of  his  ally  and 
put  a  veto  on  Russian  intervention." 

St.  Petersburg,  July  26th  "General  Soukhomlinoff, 
Russian  minister  of  War  to-day  made  a  long 
detailed  vigorous  speech  showing  the  complete 
military  readiness  of  Russia." 

Paris,  July  26th  "The  Republic  Francaise— 'We 
are  called  upon  to  intervene,  not  as  mediators 
but  as  belligerents,  with  all  our  forces'  (Up  to 
this  time  France  was  not  directly  or  indirectly 
threatened)." 

Berlin,  July  26th  "Germany  has  made  known  to  the 
European  capitols,  particularly  Paris  and  St. 
Petersburg,  that  she  regards  the  conflict  between 
Austria  and  Servia  as'concerning  these  two  states 
alone/and  the  contest,  therefore,  must  be  local- 
ized. The  statement  continues  that  German  en- 
deavors are  directed  towards  inducing  the  other 
powers  to  accept  that  standpoint  so  that  the 
peace  of  Europe  may  be  preserved." 

Berlin,  July  27th    "It  is  understood  here  t  hat  Russia 
has  informed  Berlin  that  no  mobilization  has*  . 
taken  place.     In  consequence  of  this  Germany^ 
has  decided  not  to  mobilize  unless  Russia  does  ] 
so." 

Paris,  July  29th  "The  French  Government  has 
taken  firm  means  to  suppress  anti-war  meetings. 

[13] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

A  strong  sentiment  for  peace  is  shown  amongst 
the  people."  (Strange  proceedings  of  a  Govern- 
ment that  desired  peace,  to  suppress  peace  meet- 
ings.) 

Brussels,  July  29th  "Military  movement  in  Belgium 
is  being  pushed  rapidly,  and  by  tomorrow  even- 
ing one  hundred  thousand  men  will  be  equipped 
and  ready.  The  forts  around  Liege  and  Namur 
are  receiving  war  equipment." 

London,  July  31st  "Germany  has  addressed  a  note 
to  Russia  requesting  an  explanation  of  Russian 
mobilization  and  in  the  absence  of  a  satisfactory 
reply,  it  is  feared  here  that  Germany  may  take 
steps  to  mobilize  also.  Sir  Edward  Grey  in- 
vites Germany  to  suggest  some  way  out  of  the 
difficulty.  Germany's  view  is,  that  it  behooves 
England  and  France  to  bring  pressure  on  Russia 
so  as  to  allow  the  two  principals  to  settle  their 
differences  without  outside  interference." 

Berlin,  July  31st    "Grand  Duke  Ernst  of  Hesse  and; 
'brother  of  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  was 
sent  to-day  by  Emperor  William  to  Russia  in 
a  last  endeavor  to  arrange  peace." 

London,  August  1st  "The  belief  as  held  here  by 
many  that  the  existence  of  the  whole  of  Europe 
as  an  armed  camp,  nervous  and  jealous,  can  have 
one  culmination,  and  if  the  hour  for  a  general 
settlement  has  struck,  there  will  be  no  faltering." 

London,  August  1st  "War  developments  have 
moved  to-day  with  startling  rapidity.  The  Ger- 
man ultimatum  to  Russia  demanding  that  Russia 

[U] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

cease  the  mobilization  of  her  army  expired  at 
noon  and  at  5:15  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  signed  a  mobilization  order. 

"Now  the  die  is  cast  and  Europe  is  to  be  plunged 
into  a  general  war,  which  has  been  the  appre- 
hension of  European  statesmen  for  generations. 
It  is  now  only  a  question  of  how  soon  a  state  of 
actual  war  will  exist  between  Germany  and 
France. 

"Late  tonight  placards  were  posted  in  Paris 
calling  for  general  mobilization  and  the  German 
ambassador,  although  he  has  not  been  handed  his 
passport,  was  preparing  to  leave  the  French 
capital.  It  is  not  known  at  exactly  what  hour 
Germany's  ultimatum  to  France  asking  that 
country  to  decide  what  attitude  she  would  as- 
sume in  the  case  of  a  war  by  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria against  Russia,  was  to  expire,  but  it  is  be- 
lieved it  will  not  be  long  before  diplomatic 
relations  will  be  ruptured  or  war  declared. 

"The  German  Emperor  and  his  advisers,  have 
maintained  to  the  last  that  they  made  a  supreme 
effort  for  the  sake  of  peace  and. the  last  of  the 
series  of  earnest  appeals  from  the  Emperor 
William  to  Emperor  Nicholas  was  a  telegram 
repudiating  responsibility  for  the  calamity  threat- 
ening the  world  on  the  grounds  that  while  Ger- 
many was  engaged  in  mediating  with  Austria- 
Hungary  at  Russia's  request,  Russia  by  her 
general  mobilization  was  threatening  Germany's 
safety." 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

London,  August  1st  "From  the  moment  Austria- 
Hungary  caught  the  world  napping  in  its  swift 
attack  on  Servia,  the  German  Emperor  has  been 
one  of  the  principal  figures  in  the  situation.  To- 
night all  London  regards  him  as  the  chief  figure, 
isolated,  dominating,  unafraid,  with  his  back 
against  the  wall;  desiring  peace,  but  adhering 
to  the  demand  of  his  people  for  war. 

"Many  persons  believe  the  situation  would  have 
been  different  to-night  if  Emperor  William  had 
been  at  Potsdam  instead  of  with  his  fleet  in  the 
North  Sea  when  the  Hapsburgs  proceeded  their 
chastisement  of  Servia;  but  when  William  II 
reached  home  all  Germany  was  aflame  over  the 
\)  great  struggle  between  Teuton  and  Serb. 

"The  German  Emperor  towering  head  and  shoul- 
ders over  every  other  head  in  Europe,  is  regarded 
by  the  diplomats  here  to-night  as  being  in  the 
tightest  place  in  his  remarkable  career,  with 
Italy  running  away  from  the  Triple  Alliance  and 
Austria  seriously  engaged  with  Servia.  Emperor 
William  stands  surrounded .  Russia  is  mobilizing 
on  the  one  hand,  France  ready  on  the  other  and 
Great  Britain  is  threatening  his  navy  and  throw- 
ing a  cordon  of  fighting  ships  around  his  sea- 
ports." 

"Well  may  the  Kaiser  say  as  he  said  in  his  speech 
last  night,  'A  dark  day  has  to-day  broken  over 
Germany.'  Thus  the  Emperor  stands  to-night 
in  the  eyes  of  England,  a  sort  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  beset  on  every  side  by  enemies.  And  he 

[16] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

is  the  great  figure  in  the  situation  which  has 
almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  changed  to 
place  him  in  a  position  of  great  military  dis- 
advantage." 

Berlin,  August  2nd  "An  official  statement  to-day  says 
'In  consequence  of  a  Russian  attack  on  German 
territory,  Germany  is  in  a  state  of  war  with  Rus- 
sia. The  French  reply  to  the  German  represen- 
tative is  of  an  unsatisfactory  character.  More- 
over, France  has  mobilized  and  an  outbreak  with 
France  must,  therefore,  be  reckoned  with,  any 
day  or  any  moment." 

London,  August  2nd  "Numerous  peace  meetings 
are  being  held  throughout  England.  It  is  urged 
on  all  sides  that  England  halt  Russia  on  penalty 
of  withdrawing  from  the  Triple  Entente;  that 
Russia  has  already  in  the  past  violated  the  un- 
derstanding by  its  anti-British  action  in  Persia 
and  that  civilization  should  be  better  with  Ger- 
man than  Russian  supremacy  in  that  section  of 
Europe;  that  England  must  cast  her  lot  with 
German  civilization  as  against  Russian  barbar- 
ism. These  protests  are  coming  in  from  societies 
and  prominent  men  and  women  in  every  walk 
of  life." 

St.  Petersburg,  August  2nd  "The  rupture  of  dip- 
lomatic relations  between  Russia  and  Germany 
took  place  under  dramatic  circumstances.  It 
was  midnight  Friday  when  Count  von  Pourtales, 
the  German  ambassador  to  Russia,  visited  For- 
eign Minister  Sazonoff  and  asked  for  an  urgent 

[17] 


interview.  As  soon  as  he  was  received,  he  in- 
formally called  upon  Russia  to  cease  her  mobili- 
zation within  twelve  hours.  The  alloted  period 
passed  without  an  answer.  At  7 :00  o'clock  Sat- 
urday evening,  Count  Pourtales  again  called 
upon  Minister  Sazonoff  and  asked  if  Russia 
would  cease  mobilizing  forces.  To  this  the  Rus- 
sian statesman  replied:  'Inasmuch  as  the  Rus- 
sian Government  has  not  answered  within  the 
time  you  specified,  it  follows  that  Russia  has 
declined  to  agree  with  your  demands.'  Three 
times  Count  von  Pourtales  repeated  the  German 
ultimatum  and  each  time  the  Russian  Foreign 
Minister  met  his  statement  with  the  same  firm 
negative.  Finally  Count  von  Pourtales  rose 
from  his  chair,  bowed  to  the  Foreign  Minister 
and  left  the  room  without  a  word.  He  and  the 
members  of  his  staff  at  once  departed  from  St. 
Petersburg  by  way  of  Finland." 

London,  August  3rd  "British  statesmen  decline  to 
state  whether  they  regard  the  invasion  of  Bel- 
gium a  cause  for  war." 

London,  August  5th  "Britain  declares  war  on  Ger- 
many." 

Washington,  August  6th  "Military  experts  here  be- 
lieve that  Germany's  only  hope  is  in  crossing 
Belgium." 


[18] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

NEWSPAPER  COMMENTS 

Mr.  Norman  Hapgood,  editor  of  Harper's  Weekly, 
in  a  dispatch  to  that  paper,  dated  London,  August 
12th,  1914  expresses  the  following: 

"Many  who  call  this  war  the  greatest  calamity  in 
history,  must  trace  it  to  the  vast  fighting  machines 
which  must  be  used  quickly  on  account  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  first  blow.  Some  blame  Germany  and 
some  Russia.  Some  fear  one  of  these  countries,  and 
some  the  other.  The  cooler  and  more  balanced  minds 
say  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  armaments  and 
alliances,  there  would  have  been  time  for  consultation, 
and  the  area  of  war  would  have  been  limited." 

Bernard  Shaw,  Special  cable  from  London: 
"France,  instead  of  using  her  surplus  income  in 
abolishing  French  slums  and  building  up  French 
children  into  strong  men  and  women,  has  lent  it  to 
Russia  to  strengthen  the  most  tyranical  government 
in  Europe.  And  to  secure  interest  on  her  loan  she  has 
gone  into  an  unnatural  alliance  with  Russia  against 
her  more  civilized  neighbors.  We  have  no  right  to 
throw  stones  at  France  on  this  account  for  we  made 
agreement  with  Russia  of  a  still  more  sordidly 
commercial  character  for  the  exploitation  of  Persia 
with  capital  that  should  have  fed  our  starved  children. 
And  now  mark  the  consequences;  Germany  with 
hostile  France  on  one  side  and  hostile  Russia  on  the 
other  is  in  a  position  so  dangerous  that  we  here  in 
our  secure  island  can  form  no  conception  of  its  intoler- 
able tension.  By  our  blunders  we  have  brought  about 
the  war.  We  have  deliberatley  added  to  the  strain 
by  making  a  military  and  naval  anti-German  alii- 

[19] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

ance  with  France,  without  at  the  same  time  balancing 
its  effect.  By  assuring  Germany  that  if  she  kept  the 
peace  with  France  we  would  not  help  Russia  against 
her,  nor  in  the  last  resource  allow  Russia  to  advance 
her  frontier  westward." 

"It  is  to  be  wondered  that  Germany  with  a  chronic 
pride  in  its  militarism  raised  to  desperation  by  Russia, 
France  and  England,  made  a  wild  attempt  to  cut  its 
way  out  after  a  despairing  appeal  to  us  to  let  it  fight 
one  to  two  instead  of  one  to  three.  Let  us  be  just  to 
Germany". 

"History  will  not  excuse  us  because  after  making 
the  war  inevitable,  we  run  around  at  the  last  moment 
begging  everybody  not  to  make  a  disturbance." 

London  Outlook: 

"It  must  be  contended  that  Servia  has  been  re- 
ceiving an  amount  of  sympathy  which  is  quite  un- 
warranted by  circumstances.  The  highly  colored 
portrayals  of  her  as  a  gallant  little  nation,  fighting 
against  odds  is  all  fudge.  The  Serb  has  shown  treach- 
ery and  cunning  to  friend  and  foe  alike  until  they 
have  alienated  every  ally  except  the  great  power 
(Russia)  which  may  find  it  awkward  to  offer  prac- 
tical help." 

Mr.  Lowes  Dickinson,  Author  and  Lecturer — 
Cambridge  University: 

"For  what  are  these  gamblers  playing?  Each  says 
he  is  playing  for  safety.  Each  says  the  other  is  play- 
ing for  power.  We  English  believe  we  are  resisting 
aggression.  We  may  be  sure  the  Germans  do  not 
believe  it  of  us.  We  may  be  sure  they  do  not  believe 

[20] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

they  are  agressors.  Behind  all  governments  is  a 
theory — the  theory  of  the  balance  of  power.  Behind 
the  theory  are  passions — the  passions  of  fear  and 
cupidity.  Behind  these  passions  is  the  whole,  long 
and  tragic  history  of  mankind.  The  rulers  play  on 
them  like  pipes.  All  men  not  blinded  by  theories 
know  that  the  power  to  which  governments  sacrifice 
nations  is  an  idol." 

Detroit  Daily  News,  July  31,  1914:— 

"That  a  state  of  war  exists  over  most  of  Europe 

was  perfectly  apparent  before  Germany  issued  hen 

declaration." 

Detroit  News,  August  3,  1914  (Leading  article  on 
first  page) : — 

"Political  moralists  and  sticklers  for  the  rules  of 
the  game  will  be  very  severe  of  their  criticism  of  the 
German  Emperor  for  pouring  his  army  into  neutral 
territory.  .  .  ." 

This  is  just  as  foolish  as  to  condemn  a  man  for 
shooting  another  when  he  believes  his  life  to  be  in 
imminent  danger.  When  a  nation  deems  its  life  in 
danger  it  seldom  says,  "After  you,  my  dear  Al- 
phonse."  They  did  that  sort  of  thing  at  Fontenoy, 
and  found  it  vory  costly". 

"One  might  find  in  the  vicinity  of  Oyster  Bay 
another  leader  who  might  have  done  the  same  thing 
if  he  thought  his  country  might  be  in  danger  of  being 
overrun  by  enemies  on  every  border  save  one." 

Springfield  Republican: 

"Europe  is  full  of  racial  rivalries,  suppressed  im- 
perial and  national  ambitions,  religious  hates,  eco- 

[21] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

nomic  pressure,  trade  jealousies,  internal  strains  and 
stresses  and  lines  of  cleavage  which  runs  across  the 
frontiers." 

London  Labor  Leader: 

"It  is  monstrously  unfair  to  thrust  on  the  German 
leaders  all  the  responsibility  of  the  present  conflict. 
It  may  be  true  that  they  held  a  pistol  to  the  head  of 
Europe,  but  is  there  not  some  justification  fora  man 
whipping  out  a  pistol  when  he  is  surrounded  by  armed 
enemies  plotting  his  downfall?  That  has  been  the 
position  of  Germany.  During  the  past  ten  years 
Great  Britain,  France  and  Russia  have  deliberately 
schemed  to  isolate  and  degrade  Germany." 

New  York  Sun: 

"There  is  nothing  reasonable  in  such  a  war  as  for 
which  Europe  has  been  making  ready,  and  it  would  be 
folly  for  this  country  to  sacrifice  itself  to  the  frenzy 
of  dynastic  policies  and  a  clash  of  ancient  hatreds 
which  is  urging  the  old  world  to  destruction. 

"Could  anything  be  more  rational  than  a  refusal 
of  the  United  States,  the  government  and  the  banking 
and  business  community,  acting  together,  to  permit 
Europe  to  draw  on  this  country  for  the  expense  of  the 
mad  courses  on  which  it  was  about  to  embark.  Should 
not  the  United  States  say  to  the  world  that  if  Europe 
is  going  to  plunge  into  the  abyss,  the /United  States 
does  not  intend  to  go  down  with  it^'  - 

New  York  Evening  Post: 

"But  for  the  obligation  the  Alliances  have  laid  upon 
the  contracting  nations,  no  one  would  think  it  pos- 
sible that  the  ignoble  war  upon  Servia  would  plunge 

[22] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

all  Europe  into  strife.  Talk  about  Dead  Hand!  The 
two  alliances  with  their  subsidiary  ententes,  are  lay- 
ingthe  hand  of  death  upon  all  Europe  to-day;  com- 
pelling rulers  to  do  what  they  shrink  from;  launching 
navies  and  setting  armies  on  the  march ;  leaving  the 
masses  dazed  as  to  what  it  is  all  about;  and  opening 
a  prospect  of  ruin  and  woe  fit  to  stagger  humanity. 
They  have  called  these  alliances  the  safety  of  Europe. 
Now  we  see  them  as  they  are,  a  peril  and  a  curse." 

Professor  Herbert  Sanborn— Vanderbilt  University : 
"It  may  be  true  that  Germany  desires  commercial 
expansion  (and  certainly  this  is  the  cause  of  the  arrail 
of  British  arms  against  her)  but  this  is  necessary 
economic  right/ not  a  crime/  She  desires  it,  however 
not  in  the  interest  of  luxurious  living,  as  of  England, 
but  for  the  sake  of  her  higher  civilization  and  cul- 
ture; and  there  is  no  modern  nation  whose  people 
as  a  whole  are  so  thoroughly  permeated  with  this 
spirit." 

Ramsey  MacDonald,  Member  of  the  British 
House  of  Commons: 

"It  is  a  diplomatists  war  made  by  half  a  dozen 
men.  Up  to  the  moment  ambassadors  were  with- 
drawn, the  people  were  at  peace.  They  had  no 
quarrel  with  each  other.  They  bore  each  other  no 
ill  will.  A  dozen  men  brought  Europe  to  the  brink  of 
a  precipice,  and  Europe  fell  over  it." 

Lewiston,  Maine,  Journal: 

"The  war  is  all  the  fruit  of  a  false  national  ambit- 
ion and  of  imperialism  and  special  privilege  fighting 
against  Christian  Internationalism." 


THE  WAR  GULIT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Philadelphia  Public  Ledger: 
"The  ultimate  issue,  stripped  of  all  subordinate 
and  vital  hopes  involved,  is  commerce." 

Louisville  Courier  Journal: 

"  'Big  Business'  at  its  worst  as  an  example  of  crim- 
inal brutality,  lawless  selfishness  and  an  utter  lack 
of  consideration  for  the  gull'd  fools  who  the  toils  of 
war  pursue  were  bled  the  many  to  enrich  the  few." 

New  York  Sun: 

"What  historian,  in  reviewing  the  evils  that  are 
blinding  in  their  contemporary  aspect,  will  ever  be 
able  to  apportion  justly  the  responsibility  between 
the  personal  and  dynastic  war  impulse  in  high  places 
of  power  and  the  underlying  and  invisible  forces  of 
race  hatred  and  national  greed." 

Detroit  News,  August  llth,  1914. 

Special  Cable  dispatch: 

London,  August  llth,  1914 — Robt.  C.  Long  former 
correspondent  of  the  International  News  Service, 
stationed  at  St.  Petersburg  and  Berlin  and  one 
of  the  last  men  to  leave  Berlin  writes: — 'Kaiser 
William  did  everything  in  his  power  for  peace.  De- 
spite the  protest  of  Von  Moltke,  he  delayed  the 
mobilization  decree.' 

The  causes  of  the  war  apart  from  the  traditional 
race  hatred  and  remote  historical  grounds  were  two. 
Of  neither  of  them  was  the  Kaiser  guilty.  The  first 
cause  was  the  incredible  folly  of  Count  Berchtold, 
in  refusing  to  negotiate  with  Russia  direct.  Bethmann 
Hollweg  in  his  zeal  for  peace  practically  issued  an 
ultimatum  to  Austria;  otherwise  Germany  would 

[24] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

desert  her.  Berchtold  then  climbed  down  and  started 
direct  negotiations  with  Russia.  But  it  was  too  late. 
The  mischief  was  done.  Russia  had  mobilized  her 
armies  and  compelled  the  Kaiser  to  mobilize  the 
German  army. 

In  this  war,  beyond  doubt,  all  blood  guiltness  lies 
on  two  powers.  On  Austria  for  her  undue  harshness 
toServia;  on  Russia  for  dishonesty  in  secretly  mobi- 
lizing her  armies,  while  the  Kaiser  was  working  for 
peace." 

Detroit  Free  Press,  August  1st,  1914  (Editorial) 

"Germany  will  go  to  war  with  Russia  because  it  is 
afraid  of  the  ascendancy  of  Russia  and  dreads  the 
rising  star  of  the  Slav.  It  feels  that  the  struggle  must 
come  some  time — the  sooner  the  better. 

"Germany  will  go  to  war  with  France  because  it  is 
afraid  to  leave  France  in  its  rear  with  strength  unim- 
paired. It  knows  that  France  has  not  forgotten  nor 
forgiven  the  defeat  and  loss  of  the  Franco-Prussian 
war." 

"Great  Britain  will  not  go  to  war  to  help  France,  -s> 
but  it  fears  that  a  Teuton  victory  will  leave  Germany^ 
too  strong  for  safety." 

"Europe  as  a  whole  is  plunged  in  the  war  because 
a  long  period  of  peace  has  permitted  the  develop- 
ment of  a  number  of  nations  of  almost  equal  fighting 
strength,  who  are  fearful  and  jealous  of  one  another." 
Detroit  Free  Press,  August  6th,  1914  (Editorial) 

"So  far  as  those  primarily  responsible  for  this  war 
are  concerned,  it  is  a  war  without  the  shadow  of 
excuse.  It  has  been  born  of  envy,  hatred,  greed, 
distrust  and  ambition. 

[25] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

"The  whole  origin  of  the  affair  is  sordid  and  dis- 
gusting. The  pretense  of  justification  made  by  the 
nations  which  precipitated  it  are  so  bald  that  a  Mex- 
ican bandit  would  not  consider  them  fit  ground  for 
a  manifesto." 

Detroit  Times,  July  29th,  1914.  (Editorial) 

"If  Russia  helps  Servia,  up  goes  Austria  in  smoke 
and  a  new  power,  the  Servian-Balkan  Empire  is  born, 
in  Southeastern  Europe.  The  Western  half  of  Europe, 
from  the  frozen  Arctic  to  the  tropical  Mediteranean 
Sea,  will  then  be  held  by  cousins  in  race,  brothers  in 
religion,  brothers  in  semi-civilization — the  Russians 
and  Serbs — both  ambitious  even  to  the  conquering  of 
the  world." 

"That  is  principally  why  Germany  is  getting  out 
her  fleets.  Because,  Austria  out  of  the  way,  Germany 
would  be  next  to  be  neatly  carved  up  with  the  sword. 

"If  Russia  helps  Servia  as  against  Austria,  Ger- 
many is  expected  to  attack  Russia.  The  next  move 
of  the  checkers  would  be  for  France  to  hop  on  the 
back  of  Germany. 

"If  England  plays  the  game  according  to  treaty, 
she  would  put  in  her  best  licks  against  Austria  and 
Germany. 

But  will  she? 

Does  she  want  to  see  her  hereditary  enemies — 
Russia,  build  an  invincible  wall  in  eastern  Europe? 
Does  she  want  Russia  to  become  the  greatest  power 
on  earth?  Does  Lloyd  George  want  Democracy  put 
back  a  century  in  Europe  by  Russian-Serb  domin- 
ation?" 

[26] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Detroit  Times,  August  llth,  1914.  (Editorial  Express) 
"It  is  unfair,  this  inclination  to  put  the,  blame  for 

this  terrible  war  on  Germany. 

Germany  is  not  blameless,  but  the  blame  must  be 

shared  by  Russia,  France  and  England." 

Detroit  Journal,  July  31st,  1914. 

"And  behind  them  all  stirs  the  bloodthirsty  rest- 
lessness of  the  Russians.  His  Cossacks  will  fight  as 
they  ride  down  women  in  the  street. 

Russia  is  the  most  war-like  of  the  nations  because 
she  is  the  least  enlightened;  her  rulers  are  the  least 
pacific  because  they  have  the  smallest  sense  of  respon- 
sibility." 

The  Outlook,  August  8th,  1914. 

Rev.  Lyman  Abbott,  Editor, — Theodore  Roosevelt, 

Contributing  Editor. 

"Germany  cannot  permit  Russia  to  attack  Austria 
without  flying  to  Austria's  defense.  In  the  first  place,' 
the  German  people  are  liberty-loving  and  have  de- 
veloped political  freedom  to  a  high  state  since  the 
days  of  Bismark.  They  look  with  distrust  upon  the 
despotic  bureaucracy  of  Russia,  and  Russia  with  her 
enormous  population  and  resources  is  always  a  pos- 
sible enemy  of  Germany  on  the  North.  France 
threatens  Germany  on  the  South.  On  the  west  the 
commercial  and  political  tension  with  England  has 
almost  reached  the  breaking  point  more  than  once 
during  recent  years.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  for 
Germany  to  preserve  peace  and  intimate  friendship 
with  Austria.  The  Austrians  are  Germanic,  and  it  may 
well  be  that  German  statesmen  look  forward  to  the 

[27] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

time  when  German-Austria  may  become  an  integral 
part  of  the  greater  German  Empire.  It  is  entirely 
probable  that  the  German  Emperor  sincerely  desired 
to  preserve  peace  in  Europe,  but  he  will  not  sacrifice 
either  the  future  safety  or  the  future  expansion  of 
his  Empire  to  Russia  or  France  for  peace." 

Note — The  above  editorials  and  comments  are  not  offered  as  proving  guilt , 
but  rather  to  show  that  a  very  large  number  of  thinking  people — non-German 
at  that — viewed  with  suspicion,  all  parties  engaged  in  the  struggle.  Thous- 
ands of  such  opinions  could  be  submitted,  if  space  permitted. 


[28] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

CHAPTER  II 
GREAT  BRITAIN 

Great  Britain  (erroneously  called  England)  played 
an  important  part  not  only  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
World  War,  but  also  an  equally  important  part  in 
its  staging. 

Great  Britain  is  made  up  of  the  divisions 
known  as  England,  Scotland  and  Wales;  and  with 
Ireland,  and  self-governing  dependencies  make  up 
the  great  British  Empire.  England,  therefore,  is 
not  Great  Britain;  no  more  than  Prussia  is  Germany. 
However,  those  who  have  read  history  aright 
must  concede  that  England  is  the  Prussia  of  the 
British  Empire.  The  characteristics  of  the  native 
Englishman  as  compared  to  the  Scotchman,  Welch- 
man  or  Irishman  is  more  like  his  Prussian  cousin 
than  he  is  like  either  of  the  three  named;  and  is 
just  as  marked  and  as  distinctive  as  the  Prussian 
type  differs  from  the  German  type  as  found  in  Ger- 
many outside  of  Prussia.  The  Prussian  and  the 
Englishman  in  many  respects  are  more  nearly  like 
brothers,  than  cousins.  In  the  first  place,  they  are 
alike  in  that  each  possesses  to  a  marked  degree,  the 
dual  nature  of  angel  and  beast.  Each  has  in  common 
the  following  characteristics:  Inordinate  pride,  ac- 
quisitiveness, cruelty,  self-sufficiency,  overpowering 
egotism,  and  the  religious  belief  in  their  divine  right 
to  rule;  and  at  the  same  time  in  combination  with 
these  traits  is  to  be  found  abundantly  at  times,  fine 
ethical  ideals,  and  the  loftliest  human  impulses. 

[29] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

There  are,  however,  two  notable  differences  to  be 
found  in  the  two  divisions  of  this  long  separated 
tribe,  the  first  difference  we  may  note  is  in  their  taste 
as  regards' eating  and  drinking<  This,  however,  may 
be  due  to  climate,  and  does  not  in  any  way  disprove 
their  common  origin.  The  second  difference  that 
may  be  observed  is  in  the  underlying  principles  by 
which  they  are  governed.  The  Englishman  adheres 
to  the  individual,  while  the  Prussian  employes  the 
collective  system  as  a  basis  for  his  laws  and  regula- 
tions. In  other  words — individualism  as  opposed  to 
state  socialism. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  discuss  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  these  opposing  principles  of  government, 
but  it  will  surely  not  be  amiss  to  point  out  that  Great 
Britain  (and  later  America)  in  endeavoring  to  accom- 
plish what  each  claimed  was  the  most  vital  and  im- 
portant task  of  all  their  history,  namely  winning  the 
war,  disregarded  and  threw  overboard  the  individual 
theory  and  accepted  and  practiced  collectivism  in 
a  very  marked  degree.  In  the  case  of  free  speech, 
and  free  assemblage,  for  example,  they  out-Prus- 
sianed  the  Prussian. 

If  the  war  was  fought  by  the  Allies  to  kill  Prussian 
theories  of  government,  -then  Germany  is  to  a  large 
extent  a  victor,  for  both  in  Britain  and  America  in- 
dividualism is  now  on  a  stretcher,  while  Prussian 
collectivism  in  its  most  irritating  and  obnoxious 
form  is  quite  firmly  in  the  saddle. 

Some  good  after  all  may  come  out  of  this  war  in 
that  an  enlightened  and  modified  form  of  social  col- 
lectivism may  be  adopted  in  the  place  of  individual 
license,  and  in  place  of  that  pernicious  form  of  col- 

[30] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

lective  autocracy  that  exists  in  streaks  in  England 
and  America  to-day.  Surely  there  is  room  for  this 
when  under  our  political  system  a  half  a  dozen  men 
who  control  abundant  capital  may,  without  let  or 
hindrance,  close  arbitrarily  mammoth  industrial 
plants,  thereby  throwing  out  of  employment  thous- 
ands and  thus  ruining  a  whole  country-side,  basing  their 
action  on  individual  rights;  or  on  the  other  hand, 
business  of  the  whole  country  is  often  strangled  by 
the  walkout  of  a  few  thousand  men  engaged  in  a 
basic  industry,  such  as  railroading,  claiming  in- 
dividual rights  as  opposed  to  national  rights. 

Up  to  the  5th  day  of  August,  1914,  the  English- 
man and  his  Prussian  cousin  had  done  pretty  well 
considering  their  small  and  humble  beginning;  each 
having  pushed  his  own  way  in  the  world,  in  a  very 
noteworthy  if  not  always  a  praiseworthy  way. 

It  is  indeed  many  hundred  years  since  the  great, 
great  grandfathers  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  Eng- 
land left  their  haunts  in  the  forest  beside  the  Elbe, 
the  Weser,  the  Ems  and  in  all  liklihood  the  far  off 
Vistula  and  assembled  themselves  together  for  the 
purpose  of  making  their  future  homes  on  the  little 
Island  to  the  west  of  Europe's  mainland. 

We  can  see  in  imagination  the  startled  native 
Britons  watching  the  approach  of  that  strange  ar- 
mada as  the  eastern  breeze  swept  it  towards  the 
Kentish  shore.  What  strange  craft,  what  strange 
people,  what  strange  dress.  Fair  of  skin,  blue  of  eyes, 
blonde  hair  falling  in  profusion  on  their  shoulders, 
dressed  in  the  skin  of  the  wolf,  the  bear  and  ox,  many 
with  horns  protuding  from  their  foreheads.  Little 
wonder  the  natives  became  panic-stricken,  gave  up 

[31] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

their  homes  (at  least  temporarily)  and  fled  to  caves 
and  forests,  leaving  the  newcomers  free  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  rich  lands  bordering  on  the  bays  and 
rivers  adjacent  to  their  landing  place. 

Thus  began  the  wonderful  history  of  that  branch 
of  the  Teuton  tribe  that  separated  itself  from  the 
parent  family  for  reasons  we  will  never  know, 
first  occupying  the  lands  now  known  as  Kent  and 
Essex,  then,  as  time  went  on,  the  whole  island  and 
the  adjoining  one  and  to-day  the  sun  never  sets  on 
their  dominion. 

Following  the  career  and  noting  the  achievements 
of  the  two  branches  of  this  wonderful  family,  the 
impartial  observer  will  be  struck  with  the  similarity 
of  their  methods  of  aggression,  their  marvelous  powers 
for  dominion,  and  their  wonderful  faculty  of  acqui- 
sition. 

It  is  not  strange  that  after  a  separation  of  nearly 
fifteen  centuries  the  Englishman  of  to-day  should 
show  somewhat  different  characteristics  to  that  of 
his  present  German  cousin.  They  have  lived  vastly 
different  lives.  One  settled  down  at  home,  tilled  the 
land,  etc.  while  the  other  chose  an  island  home  and 
became  more  or  less  a  world  rover.  Even  in  the 
early  days  the  rude  sails  of  the  Islander  carried  him 
far  and  without  a  great  deal  of  effort.  It  was,  there- 
fore, inevitable  that  the  changed  mode  of  life  of  the 
two  separated  divisions  of  the  Teuton  family,  would 
in  time  produce  a  marked  divergency  of  character 
and  custom.  The  Englishman  became  a  man  of  the 
world  at  an  early  date,  while  those  he  left  behind  on 
the  mainland,  for  the  most  part,  remained  for  cen- 
turies little  more  than  the  denizens  of  a  country  side. 

[32] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

A  factor  that  never  must  be  overlooked  in 
determining  the  character  of  the  Englishman, 
or  at  least  those  things  which  in  early  days 
determined  his  future  character,  was  his 
mode  of  life  for  hundreds  of  years  immediately 
following  his  landing  on  the  shores  of  Briton.  His 
occupation  of  the  new  land  was  not  a  peaceful 
one — on  the  contrary  it  was  one  of  the  cruelest 
and  most  bloody  of  history.  From  the  day  the 
Teuton  landed  it  was  a  veritable  war  of  race 
extermination.  It  was,  in  the  cruelest  sense,  a 
case  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  No  quarter  was 
given.  Even  Rome  had  set  the  Teuton  invader  an 
example  in  moderation,  which  he  did  not  heed.  The 
Romans  lived  side  by  side  with  the  Britons  and 
taught  them  in  art,  agriculture  and  the  Christian 
religion.  When  it  became  necessary  for  Rome  to 
withdraw  from  the  island,  the  native  Britons  witnessed 
their  departure  with  evidence  of  sincere  grief,  coupled 
with  prayer  for  their  early  return  and  protection. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  a  war  of  exter- 
mination, such  as  this,  and  a  war  even  of  conquest. 
In  the  latter  case,  a  few  battles  may  be  fought  in 
which  but  a  small  percentage  of  the  population 
of  either  side  takes  part,  and  in  many  instances  the 
defeated  peoples  are  often  unaware  of  any  perceptible 
change  in  their  condition,  and  frequently  it  is  only  a 
question  of  the  slight  difference  in  task  masters.  A 
war  of  extermination  means  the  wiping  out  of  men, 
women  and  children,  the  cruelest  and  most  beastly 
of  all  wars. 

What  manner  of  descendants,  even  to  the  fiftieth 
generation,  might  we  expect  from  a  race  of  men  and 

[33] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

women  the  hands  of  whose  ancestors  were  almost 
daily,  for  centuries,  steeped  in  innocent  human  blood? 

Considering  such  ancestry,  is  it  to  be  marveled 
that  cruelty  and  barbarism  should  at  times  become 
manifest  in  their  offsprings,  as  the  race  ebbs  and 
flows,  advancing,  then  again  reverting  to  type;  often 
to  the  worst  features  of  the  primitive  type?  This 
reversal  to  type  in  the  individual  is  of  frequent  occur- 
rence, and  is  in  evidence  constantly,  but  a  national 
reversal  comes  at  more  or  less  lengthy  intervals  and 
a  world  reversal,  such  as  witnessed  during  the  period 
of  the  great  war,  is  a  human  phenomena  never  before 
witnessed;  all  races  and  peoples  having  been  enmeshed 
in  the  coils  of  virulent  and  malignant,  contagious  re- 
action. 

For  several  centuries  the  insular  and  continental 
divisions  of  the  Teuton  family  were  virtually  sepa- 
rated and  scarcely  came  in  contact  one  with  the  other. 
Each  was  engrossed  with  his  own  separate  and  dis- 
tinct problems.  For  a  length  of  time  England  was 
engaged  in  a  two-fold  task — exterminating  the 
natives  and  repelling  the  invasions  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  northern  part  of  the  island;  also  the  adven- 
turers from  the  mainland.  During  this  time  the  con- 
tinentals were  engaged  in  inter-tribal  wars,  together 
with  an  occasional  excursion  of  a  more  or  less  am- 
bitious nature  to  the  south,  east  and  west.  But  each 
member  was  steadily,  but  in  a  different  direction, 
coming  toward  both  light  and  nationality. 

It  may  indeed  be  truthfully  stated,  that  no  serious 
rivalry  or  political  jealousy  could  be  noted,  to  any 
great  extent,  between  these  peoples  prior  to  1871 
when  Germany  humbled  France,  and  as  a  result,  a 

[34] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

great  continental  nation  came  into  being.  Great 
Britain  immediately  sat  up  and  took  notice.  From 
that  day  on  the  watchful  eye  of  Britain  was  con- 
stantly on  the  new  giant  of  the  nations. 

Well  might  she  view  with  apprehension,  if  not 
alarm,  the  union  or  amalgamation  of  these  virile 
kingdoms  and  states  into  one  mighty  whole.  They 
saw,  not  a  loose  connection  of  alien  provinces,  each 
entering  with  mental  or  selfish  reservations,  but  they 
beheld  a  loyal  union  of  twenty-five  sovereign  states — 
four  kingdoms,  seven  principalities,  six  grand-duchies, 
five  duchies,  three  free  towns,  not  mentioning  the 
wealthy  provinces  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  all  excepting 
the  latter  entering  the  Union  imbued  with  a  common 
spirit  of  nationality,  a  common  language,  an  intensi- 
fied community  spirit,  showing  clearly  to  the  world 
that  the  ambition  of  one  was  the  ambition  of  all. 

At  last  Germany  became  a  nation.  At  last  this 
great  people  had  found  themselves.  And  what  did 
all  this  mean  to  startled  Britain? 

Here  we  have  a  new  united  nation  of  forty-five 
millions  of  people,  of  Teuton  blood,  in  many  respects 
the  salt  of  the  earth,  highly  intelligent,  educated,  in- 
dustrious, inventive,  now  fired  with  ambition,  oc- 
cupying a  country  possessing,  next  to  America,  the 
most  wonderful  natural  and  varied  resources  in  all 
the  world.  Had  not  these  same  people,  even  when 
divided,  made  more  or  less  of  a  successful  bid  for 
world  trade?  Now  that  they  are  united  and  under 
ambitious  and  skillful  leadership,  what  naturally 
might  be  anticipated?  And,  has  history  not  proven 
that  these  feelings  of  disquietude  of  the  British  were 
more  real  than  imaginary?  They  saw  clearly  a  real 

[35] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

rival  for  world  trade,  a  rival  that  at  least  possessed 
every  element  of  initiative  that  they  possessed  beside 
infinitely  greater  natural  and  more  inexhaustible  re- 
sources. This  is  indeed  putting  the  case  mildly.  In 
addition  to  this,  was  not  the  horrible  truth  beginning 
to  dawn  on  her  for  the  first  time,  that  Britain  had 
reached  the  apex  of  her  greatness,  and  that  already 
national  old  age  had  set  in  with  all  the  accompanying 
evidences  of  atrophy  and  decline? 

There  has  been,  as  history  attests,  the  inevitable 
sad  day  that  comes  into  the  lives  of  nations  as  into 
the  lives  of  individuals.  A  day  surely  comes  to  the 
reigning  queen  of  beauty  and  fashion  when  she  looks 
into  the  mirror  and  detects  for  the  first  time  the 
wrinkle  or  the  tell-tale  gray  hair;  the  sure  precursor 
of  evil  days  to  come;  or  like  the  herteofore  invincible 
athlete,  with  years  of  conquest  to  his  credit,  suddenly 
discovering  a  powerful  rival  looming  on  the  horizon 
and  at  a  time  when  he  himself  as  well  as  his  friends, 
detects  flabbiness  where  once  there  was  firmness,  and 
growing  weakness  where  once  there  was  strength. 
And  that  day  at  last  arrived  for  Britain;  Britain 
the  invincible,  the  mother  of  nations  and  the  un- 
challenged arbiter  of  the  world.  And  what  was  the 
evidence  of  atrophy,  senility  and  decay? 

Had  Britain  not  already  performed  the  functions 
of  motherhood?  She  had  performed  this  function  by 
both  parentage  and  adoption.  Already  her  blood 
children  had  for  the  most  part  reached  maturity 
and  had  embarked  in  independent  business  for 
themselves,  without  consulting  the  wishes  or  int- 
erests of  the  parent.  One  of  her  first  born  and  most 
promising  of  the  progeny,  by  reason  of  arrogant 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

and  inhuman  treatment  administered  prior  to  1776, 
was  not  only  cold  and  indifferent  but  even  to  a  de- 
gree hostile,  to  the  motherland. 

Canada  and  Australia  had  reared  tariff  walls 
against  the  world;  the  British  Isles  included.  They 
clearly  gave  the  motherland  notice  that  they  did  not 
consider  that  there  should  be  either  love  or  friend- 
ship in  trade.  They  naturally  preferred,  as  a  first 
choice,  to  purchase  their  own  products,  and  when 
that  would  not  be  expedient  to  trade  where  they 
could  do  so  to  the  greatest  advantage,  regardless  of 
family  ties.  They  condescended  an  offer  to  give  the 
parent  preference,  provided  she  granted  the  same 
concession,  but  the  acceptance  of  this  proposition  on 
the  part  of  Britain  would  be  suicidal  and  diametric- 
ally opposed  to  those  trade  principles  which  for  many 
years  were  the  foundation  of  her  very  economic  ex- 
istence. Such  a  proposition  was  in  every  sense  im- 
practicable, for  the  reason  that  Britain's  commercial 
supremacy  depended  primarily  on  cheap  material  and 
cheap  labor.  To  place  a  tariff  on  all  but  colonial 
imports  would,  without  doubt,  raise  the  cost  of  sup- 
plies to  the  British  consumer  and  manufacturer.  If 
it  did  not,  what  advantage  would  there  be  for  the 
colonist?  If,  for  instance,  an  import  duty  raised  the 
price  of  wheat  to  the  British  consumer,  the  price  of 
flour  would  raise,  bread  inevitably  would  become 
dearer,  the  cost  of  living  would  therefore  advance, 
labor  of  necessity  would  demand  and  obtain  higher 
living  wages,  these  wages  would  increase  the  cost 
of  the  manufactured  article,  and  this  increased  cost, 
owing  to  keen  competition,  would  exclude  Britain 

[37] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

from  many  world  markets,  as  some  of  these  markets 
had  been  held  on  a  3  to  5%  margin  of  profit. 

Britain  could  not  coerce  her  blood  offsprings  into 
family  trade  relations,  and  the  only  thing  left  for  her 
was  to  control  as  best  she  could,  her  adopted  children, 
such  as  India;  over  whom  she  exercised  complete 
authority.  Even  in  this  her  hands  were  tied  for  the 
reason  that  she  in  order  to  appear  consistent,  had  to 
apply  free  trade  principles  with  the  result  that  she 
could  claim  no  greater  trade  advantage  than  enjoyed 
under  these  circumstances,  by  her  most  hated  com- 
petitor. In  addition  to  this  her  treatment  of  these 
dependent  possessions  had  to  be  both  equitable  and 
enlightened,  if  she  continued  to  profit  by  the  salutary 
lesson  that  America  taught  her  many  years  ago;  a 
lesson  that  she  took  seriously,  and  as  a  result,  colo- 
nists, such  as  Canada  and  Australia,  her  younger 
and  smaller  children,  have  been  treated  with  kind- 
ness and  consideration,  a  circumstance  these  lusty 
youngsters  do  not  appreciate  or  at  least,  do  not  give 
proper  credit  to  the  source  of  their  full  and  complete 
freedom  of  to-day. 

No  matter  what  theories  are  presented,  sensible 
men  will  always  keep  their  eyes  on,  and  be  guided 
by,  concrete  instances.  And  what  were  the  concrete 
instances  that  were  pressing  themselves  on  the 
thoughtful  Britisher  at  the  particular  time  of  which 
we  speak;  at  the  time  when  this  huge  Germanic 
competitive  giant  appeared  on  the  horizon? 

Who  could  fail  to  note  the  progressive  flabbiness 
of  fibre,  that  was  everywhere  in  process,  impairing, 
if  not  now  threatening,  the  health,  if  not  the  life 
of  the  nation?  A  large  percentage  of  the  inhabitants 

[38] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

were  now  little  better  than  idlers,  living  on  incomes 
the  source  of  which  must  be  examined  and  analyzed, 
in  order  to  appreciate  the  effect  of  certain  forces  on 
national  life  and  character. 

Britain  at  that  particular  time  was  suffering  from 
a  disease  that  at  the  present  time  is  threatening  the 
economic  well-being  of  America.  For  centuries  the 
manufacturers  and  merchants  of  Britain  dominated 
the  trade  of  the  entire  world.  The  inevitable  result 
was  that  great  trade  balances  were  established  in 
Britain's  favor  in  nearly  every  country  on  the  hab- 
itable globe — balances  that  represented  clear  profits. 
These  balances  in  most  cases  were  allowed  to  remain 
drawing  high  interest;  Britain,  therefore,  was  receiv- 
ing tribute  in  the  form  of  interest  from  the  entire 
world.  To  a  measureable  extent,  a  large  percentage 
of  the  British  people  were  now  living,  not  on  their 
immediate  earnings,  but  on  their  incomes,  and  these 
incomes  derived  from  foreign  sources,  a  large  pre- 
centage  of  which  had  been  established  by  the  fathers, 
grandfathers  and  great  grandfathers  of  those  enjoying 
such  incomes.  Had  the  British  people  as  a  whole, 
instead  of  individuals,  been  the  recipients  of  these 
incomes  from  outside  sources,  the  evil  to  that  extent 
would  have  been  mitigated ;  but  who  can  measure  the 
softening  and  dilatorious  effect  that  these  incomes 
had  on  the  life  and  character  of  a  considerable  section 
of  the  British  people.  It  created  and  sustained  an 
idle  class,  in  fact  a  separate  and  distinct  class, 
one  that  was  not  in  the  least  dependent  on  other 
branches  of  society,  unsympathetic,  proud  and  selfish. 

"They  toiled  not,  neither  did  they  spin",  and  in 
full  view  of  the  struggling  mass  of  their  countrymen, 

[39] 


THE  WAR  GULIT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

they  arrayed  themselves  in  fine  linen  and  lived  sump- 
tuously on  the  good  things  gathered  from  every 
land  and  every  clime. 

What  would  be  the  inevitable  effect  of  this  on  the 
body  politic?  The  school  boy,  who  had  his  first  ex- 
perience in  athletics  can  answer.  Seeing  these  idlers 
on  every  hand  enjoying  one  continuous  holiday,  is 
it  a  wonder  that  the  working  class  had  became  in- 
sistent in  their  demand  for  more  holidays  and  shorter 
hours?  Cut  off  by  hostile  tariff  from  her  own  children, 
her  own  natural  resources  on  the  wane,  compelled  by 
conditions  to  haul  raw  materials  from  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  for  her  factories  and  furnaces  and  then 
haul  it  back  again  in  its  finished  product;  a  large 
percentage  of  her  people,  idlers  and  non-producers 
and  the  balance  demanding  short  hours  and  extra 
holidays,  what  position  was  she  in  when  a  great  and 
formidable  world  competitor  made  his  appearance? 
Surely  the  future  was  dark  and  threatening. 

As  the  years  went  on  the  worst  fears  of  the  Brit- 
ish were  realized — competition  became  keener,  mar- 
ket after  market  was  either  invaded  or  captured  by 
her  hated  rival — even  the  home  market  had  to  be 
divided  with  the  German. 

All  over  Germany,  almost  over  night,  immediately 
after  1871  sprang  up  myriads  of  woolen  and  cotton 
mills,  shipyards,  chemical  plants,  and  huge  roaring 
blast  furnaces  which  gradually  silenced  the  great 
manufactories  of  Leeds,  Glascow,  Birmingham  and 
Manchester.  In  every  section  of  the  known  globe, 
civilized  and  uncivilized,  the  Englishman  was  driven 
to  desperation  as  he  saw  the  fortunes  of  the  commer- 
cial war  going  against  him — a  commercial  war  which 

[40] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

all  observers  knew,  owing  to  the  character  of  the  trade 
combatants,  would  end  in  a  blood  war — not  a  war 
between  products — but  ultimately  between  men. 

This  losing  commercial  war  was  distressing  enough 
for  the  Islander,  but  the  worst  awakening  was  yet 
to  come.  Germany,  owing  to  the  increased  import- 
ance of  her  foreign  trade  had  decided  on  a  powerful 
navy.  If  the  British  had  spasms  when  they  saw 
their  trade  going  to  another,  they  now  had  convul- 
sions when  they  beheld  the  growth  of  the  German 
navy. 

England  had  for  many  years  exclusive  world  mono- 
ply  of  a  navy.  Her  justification  for  this  great,  grim 
machine  was  that  a  powerful  weapon,  such  as  this 
was  necessary  to  protect  her  people  at  home  and  her 
trade  abroad.  This  belief  with  her  not  only  became 
a  religion  but  a  featish.  No  one  in  the  world  was 
ungenerous  enough  to  deny  Britain  the  security  that 
these  moving  fortresses  afforded  when  they  were  em- 
ployed for  the  ligitimate  purpose  of  home  and  fireside 
protection.  But  there  was  a  growing  feeling  in  the 
minds  of  people  possessing  independent  thought, 
that  there  did  not  exist  on  the  top  of  this  earth  a 
country  good  enough,  disinterested  enough  and  just 
enough  to  be  given  exclusively  the  monopolistic  use 
of  so  great  and  far-reaching  a  weapon — a  weapon 
capable  of  so  much  destruction  and  intimidation.  It 
may  be  true  that  Britain  used  this  great  power  ben- 
evolently and  with  moderation.  But  what  self-re- 
specting man  or  nation  wants  a  club  held  over  his 
head,  that  possibly  might  come  down  at  any  moment 
that  the  holder  deemed  necessary  either  for  punish- 
ment, discipline  or  reproof?  And  who  can  say  truth- 

[41] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

fully  that  the  chief  thought  of  Great  Britain  in  navy 
expenditure  was  home  protection?  In  her  navy  ex- 
penditures was  not  her  eye  singled  on  those  craft  that 
could  be  used  abroad,  while  with  less  expenditure  in 
purely  coast  defense  equipment  she  could  have  found 
the  necessary  home  protection. 

Considering  all  circumstances,  is  it  to  be  wondered 
that  a  proud,  ambitious  rival  should  seek  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  navy  which  should  at  least  dispute 
the  pretensions  of  Britain  to  the  exclusive  physical 
monoply  of  the  high  seas? 

Some  may  say  that  this  act  of  Germany  was  not 
generous,  but  when  had  Germany  been  the  benefici- 
ary of  Britain's  overflowing  good  will  and  generosity, 
If  there  are  such  evidences,  history  is  silent. 

The  possible  exception  to  this  may  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  in  1870  before  the  declaration  of  war  on 
Prussia  by  France,  Britain  unanimously  sided  with 
Prussia  and  applauded  the  resistence  of  the  German 
people  against  the  gross  and  insolent  attitude  of 
Napoleon  III.  In  a  measure,  by  this  token  of  sym- 
pathy, the  British  people  made  up  for  their  ignoble 
exhibition  of  temper  that  they  showed  toward  the 
same  people  only  fifteen  years  previously,  at  the 
time  Britain  and  France  failed  to  draw  Prussia  into 
the  Crimean  War — a  war  that  had  for  its  object,  the 
placing  of  Turkey  in  a  secure  position  in  European 
society.  The  Prussian  King's  refusal  to  be  a  party 
to  this  brought  down  on  his  head  the  vials  of  wrath 
of  the  British.  He  was  odiously  nicknamed  by  the 
British,  and  held  up  publicly  as  a  weakling,  having 
no  decision  of  character — and  a  sensualist  of  the 
worst  type;  all  of  which  history  repudiates  to-day. 

[42] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Of  course,  it  is  within  the  knowledge  of  all  that  there 
never  has  been  love  lost  or  sympathy  wasted  on 
either  side,  as  the  dominant  Englishman  and  the 
dominant  Prussian  are  too  nearly  alike  for  real  or 
artificial  sentimental  outpourings. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Britain  showed  marked 
sympathy  for  Prussia  at  the  opening  of  hostilities 
with  France.  But  that  sympathy  was  short  lived; 
in  fact,  it  began  to  wane  when  the  first  battles  showed 
Prussia's  remarkable  fighting  ability.  Any  sympathy 
that  was  left,  disappeared  completely  when  it  became 
known  that  Germany  had  exacted  the  rewards  of 
the  victor  and  was  emerging  from  the  conflict — a 
world  power  of  the  first  magnitude. 

For  twenty-five  years  prior  to  1914  Great  Britain 
was  frantically  fighting  to  hold  foreign  trade;  or 
busily  engaged  in  building  two  ships  for  Germany's 
one.  At  frequent  intervals,  in  order  to  relieve  the 
immense  drain  on  her  resuorces,  she  made  overtures 
to  her  rival,  looking  to  the  curtailment  of  sea  arm- 
ament, but  inasmuch  as  her  propositions  always  left 
her  in  the  firm  possession  of  her  ancient,  if  not  time- 
honored  club,  Germany  of  necessity  was  compelled  to 
decline  such  overtures. 

As  a  result  of  all  this,  a  horrible  war,  between 
these  great  powers  was  brewing  and  being  fomented. 
Seeing  that  she  was  being  rapidly  relegated  to  the 
rear  commercially,  Britain  proceeded  to  use  sub- 
terranean means,  of  a  very  doubtful  nature,  to  head 
off  her  rival.  She  began  to  encircle  Germany  with 
a  cordon  of  alliances  and  "understandings".  She 
capitalized  French  hatred  for  the  German,  Belgian 
distrust,  and  Russia's  inordinate  ambition.  Ger- 

[43] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

many  was  not  blind  to  this  menace.  As  a  result  of 
it  she  was  compelled  to  double  and  triple  her  arma- 
ment expenditures — causing  a  terrific  strain  on  the 
financial  resources  of  the  country. 

The  powder  was  being  rapidly  piled  up  for  the 
coming,  inevitable  explosion.  The  murder  of  the 
Austrian  Crown  Prince  and  Princess  furnished  the 
spark. 

What  peculiar  emotions  take  possession  of  ones 
mind  and  soul  as  he  views  Britain's  entry  into  the 
great  war!  It  was  as  but  yesterday,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  province,  that  the  empire  was  wrapped 
as  if  in  a  mantle  of  peace;  without  even  a  premoni- 
tion of  the  passions,  that  a  few  hours  at  most,  would 
be  tearing  every  heart  from  its  mooring.  It  was  as  if 
a  summer's  sea  in  an  hour  had  been  lashed  by  the 
fury  of  a  typhoon.  Fear,  cupidity,  revenge,  hatred 
and  super-patriotism  took  possession  of  the  nation; 
blinded  and  infuriated,  they  cast  themselves  over  a 
precipice  into  Europe's  seething  maelstrom. 

Even  six  years  after  this  debacle,  it  is  difficult  to 
account  for  this  spontaneous,  national  aberration. 
Under  what  law,  psychological  or  sociological  may  it 
be  classified? 

Seeking  in  vain  for  a  solution,  I  overlooked  a  pos- 
sible one  that  was  at  my  very  side.  I  found  it  in 
Dexter — Dexter  my  companion  and  friend.  I  will 
have  you  know  first  of  all,  that  Dexter  is  a  dog;  that 
by  the  way,  is  the  worst  thing  and  the  best  thing 
that  may  be  said  of  him.  To  refer  to  a  human  being 
as  a  "man"  means  nothing.  A  man  is  an  animal  who 
walks  on  two  legs  (when  he  is  sober)  and  makes 
known  his  wants  by  wagging  his  tongue.  There  are 

[44] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

men  and  men  and  dogs  and  dogs.  There  are  men 
made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  their  Creator; 
whose  head  towers  above  the  clouds  and  who  breathes 
the  pure  air  of  God's  sunlit*truth ;  and  there  are  men 
who  crawl  on  their  bellies,  snakelike,  and  wallow  in 
the  mire  of  sin,  ignorance,  superstition  and  crime. 

We  are  told  that  the  dog  descended  from  the  wolf, 
and  man  from  the  ape.  If  this  is  true,  Dexter  and  I, 
his  companion,  had  very  much  of  an  even  start  inso- 
far as  remote  ancestry  is  concerned. 

A  philosophic  personage  once  remarked,  the  more 
he  saw  of  men  the  better  he  liked  dogs.  That  state- 
ment would  hold  true,  to  a  greater  degree,  the  past 
six  years  than  at  any  other  period  in  the  history  of 
either  man  or  dog.  There  are  men,  even  those  whose 
hands  have  recently  been  dipped  in  human  blood, 
who  will  take  exception  to  the  claim  that  in  some  re- 
spects at  least,  human  beings  have  not  reached  the 
high  plane  in  evolution  that  the  average  dog  has  at- 
tained. 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  there  is  at  least  hope 
for  mankind  when  we  remember  that  the  dog  de- 
scended from  the  wolf.  Contrast,  if  you  will,  the 
blood-curdling  ferocity  of  the  wolf  either  singly  or  in 
the  pack,  tearing  each  other  limb  from  limb,  either 
through  hatred  or  by  reason  of  hunger,  and  then  con- 
template their  lineal  descendent  of  to-day,  Dexter, 
the  protector  of  little  children,  a  boon  companion, 
and  a  faithful  friend. 

It  is,  in  all  likelihood,  thousands  and  thousands 
of  years  of  evolution  between  the  cowardly,  treach- 
erous, ferocious,  demon  eyed  inhabitant  of  the 
wild  and  that  gentle  and  lovable  creature  of  to-day 

[45] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

that  goes  bounding  down  the  path  to  greet  his  master 
and  give  him  a  joyous  welcome  to  home  and  fireside. 
Evolution,  patiently  but  masterfully  has  done  its 
work;  progress  at  least  that  has  kept  pace  with  man's 
advancement. 

If  evolution  has  performed  such  marvels  for  the  dog 
there  is  hope  that  it  will  do  as  much  for  man;  that 
it  will  in  time  eliminate  some  of  those  attributes  that 
mark  him,  too  frequently  indeed,  as  little  removed 
from  some  of  the  beasts  of  the  forests  or  reptiles  of 
the  jungle. 

It  is  true,  there  are  dogs  that  may,  and  do  retain 
some  of  the  vicious  characteristics  of  their  ancestor, 
the  wolf;  but  who  can  claim  otherwise  than  that  the 
blood  and  brain  and  heart  of  a  very  large  percentage 
of  mankind,  at  times  at  least,  is  well  under  the  influ- 
ence and  domination  of  the  ancestral  beast  from 
which  they  sprang.  Look  around  you  in  any  com- 
munity, and  behold  manifest  evidence  of  this. 

Now,  there  are  a  number  of  dogs  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  where  Dexter  lives,  some  of  high  and 
more  of  low  degree.  As  a  general  thing  he  gets  on 
with  these  very  much  as  human  beings  are  wont  to 
with  their  neighbors.  He  passes  some  with  an  air 
of  disdain,  others  he  is  on  pleasant  speaking  terms, 
while  others  he  receives  and  pays  visits.  But  there 
is  one  dog  just  down  the  street  that  is  an  exception 
to  all  we  have  said — that  is  Pat.  Pat  is  a  brindle 
bull,  with  one  good  clear  blue  eye  (the  only  good  eye 
he  possesses)  and  the  other  is  a  sickly  white,  re- 
sembling a  marble  set  in  a  hole.  Pat  has  more  scars 
to  his  credit  than  a  Frenchman  has  war  medals,  and 

[46] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

of  which  he  has  just  as  good  reasons  to  be  proud. 
Some  of  these  he  received  in  defense  while  others 
came  while  re-capturing  his  former  possessions. 

But  just  what  there  was  about  Pat  that  Dexter 
did  not  like  (and  the  dislike  was  mutual)  we  never 
could  determine;  for  Pat  on  the  whole  was  a  good 
dog  as  dogs  go.  He  scarcely  ever  attacked  another 
of  his  kind  without  provocation;  he  kept  watch  over 
the  children  of  his  household,  and  woe  unto  the  stranger 
who  would  molest  them.  The  baby  in  the  carriage 
was  as  safe  with  Pat  at  his  side  as  it  would  be  on 
its  fond  mother's  lap;  but  with  all  these  endearing 
qualities  Dexter  hated  him  with  all  the  hatred  that 
even  a  human  being  in  war  is  capable  of.  Dexter 
could  be  at  your  side  peaceful  as  a  June  morning, 
his  great  big  brown  eyes  radiating  love  and  devotion, 
when  suddenly  he  would  spy  Pat — like  a  shot  out  of 
a  cannon,  he  would  be  off — and  the  fight  would  be 
on — and  to  a  finish.  When  he  would  return  it  would 
be  with  downcast  eyes;  ashamed  of  himself  as  a  man 
the  day  following  a  fall  from  grace  in  the  form  of  a 
protracted  spree.  He  would  say  as  best  he  could,  "I 
do  not  understand  what  gets  into  me  when  I  see  that 
fellow — I  forget  everything  and  everybody  and  I  just 
feel  that  I  want  to  tear  him  limb  from  limb." 

As  the  Entente  Allies  entered  the  war,  the  world 
beheld  the  distressing  spectacle  of  the  English  bull 
dog  and  the  French  poodle  following  the  Russian 
wolf  into  the  wilderness.  Truly  they  harkened  to 
the  call  of  the  wild. 

All  nations  that  entered  the  war  (Belgium  perhaps 
excepted),  like  Dexter — were  conforming  to  one  of 
the  lowest  as  well  as  one  of  the  oldest  laws  of  nature— 

[47] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

the  law  of  the  reversal  to  type— civilization  tempor- 
arily becoming  barbaric. 

Every  nation  that  entered  the  war,  entered  with  a 
lie  on  its  lips.  Perhaps  the  most  transparent  lie  of  all 
and  the  one  from  which  accrued  the  greatest  sym- 
pathy and  benefit  for  the  falsifier,  was  that  employed 
by  Great  Britain  as  a  reason  for  her  entering  the 
world  war;  namely,  to  protect  Belgian  neutrality. 
This  brazen  distortion  of  the  truth  was  accepted 
without  question,  not  only  by  the  majority  of  the 
British  people  but  by  the  unthinking  masses  in  Amer- 
ica as  well. 

Now  that  this  lie  has  served  it  purpose  and  "civi- 
lization has  been  saved,"  let  us  examine  some  of  the 
outstanding  phases  of  this  question. 

Does  anyone  with  an  ounce  of  intellect,  or  pos- 
sessing an  atom  of  fairness  believe  that  Great  Brit- 
ain would  not  have  been  in  the  war,  Belgium  invaded 
or  Belgium  passed  by?  Has  it  not  been  the  regret 
of  England  since  1870  that  she  did  not  at  that  time 
join  hands  with  France  against  Germany  (although 
for  their  own  selfish  purposes  they  gave  all  encourage- 
ment to  the  Prussians  before  hostilities  began?)  With 
France  conquered  and  prostrate  at  Germany's  feet, 
what  advantage  would  Belgium  be  to  Britain  as  a 
buffer  state?  None  whatever.  Surely  no  one  would 
claim  for  Britain  that  she  sought  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium  for  the  good  of  that  country — it  was  with 
an  eye  singled  to  her  own  protection.  Knowing  the 
history  of  Britain  and  her  heartless  and  selfish  treat- 
ment of  small  countries,  we  know  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  danger  that  it  held  for  herself,  for  the 
future,  were  it  not  for  other  reasons,  Britain 

[48] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

would  not  have  risked  a  single  ship,  a  single 
gun,  or  a  single  man  to  protect  these  people. 
Going  to  war  to  protect  small  nations  and  to  main- 
tain the  sanctity  of  treaties  sounds  exalted ;  but  what 
arrant  hypocrisy  on  her  part.*  Look  down  the  pages 
of  history  and  observe  the  number  of  small  nations 
that  have  been  either  swallowed,  or  pounded  into  insen- 
sibility by  England,  or,  where  that  did  not  occur,  she 
stood  idly  by  while  they  were  devoured  by  larger  nations. 

These  instances  are  unnecessary  here  to  rehearse, 
but  it  will  be  of  interest  to  recall  one  as  showing 
Britain's  Dr.  Jekel  and  Mr.  Hyde  performance  when 
it  comes  to  enforcing  the  sacredness  of  treaties. 

Be  it  known  to  all  that  in  the  early  fifties  of  last 
century,  the  great  big  pulsating  heart  of  Britain  went 
out  to  the  Turk,  as  it  in  1914  went  out  spontaneously 
to  bleeding  Belgium.  This  admission  must  be  made 
in  order  to  give  credit  where  credit  is  due.  Was  it 
not  by  British  effort  that  the  Turk  was  given  a  safe 
place  in  the  European  family  of  nations,  and  was  it 
not  due  to  that  self  same  nation  that  Turkey  was 
put  in  the  position  that  she  could  defy  Europe,  and 
as  a  consequence  she  was  not  afraid  to  commit  those 
outrages  from  time  to  time  that  have  shocked  man- 
kind? 

In  order  to  protect  Turkey  and  at  the  same  time 
curb  ravenous  and  barbaric  Russia  (afterwards  in 

*It  is  evident  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  did  not  share  the  belief  that  Britain 
entered  the  war  disinterestedly  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  little  Belgium. 
In  the  "Outlook"  of  August  22nd,  1914,  he  remarks:  "Belgium,  however,  was 
armed  and  went  to  war.  If  she  succeeds  in  protecting  herself,  it  will  be  be- 
cause she  had  armed  and  not  trusted  to  the  treaty,  and  because  she  received 
aid  from  big  military  powers,  who  would  have  given  it  anyhow,  as  a  matter  of 
their  own  vital  interest,  as  a  matter  of  self-defense — not  merely  for  the  defense 
of  Belgium,  but  for  the  defense  of  themselves." 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

1914  Britain's  loyal  and  faithful  and  honorable  ally) 
she  insisted,  in  the  Crimean  war  settlement,  that  the 
Black  Sea  should  be  so  far  as  war  vessels  were  con- 
cerned, neutralized — this  neutrality  was  strictly  ob- 
served until  the  year  of  the  Franco-German  war, 
when  Russia  boldly  and  bluntly  gave  notice  that  she 
intended  to  ignore  this  portion  of  the  treaty — which 
she  did.  Britain  was  incensed  and  proceeded  imme- 
diately to  round  up  European  nations  to  side  with 
her  in  the  enforcement  of  this  treaty.  She  first 
approached  Austria,  but  Austria  declined — then  Prus- 
sia was  interviewed,  but  no  encouragement  was  given 
— then  she  beseeched  France  with  a  like  result.  Had 
these  powers  listened  to  Britain  at  that  time,  there 
would  have  been  a  general  European  war.  If  war 
at  that  time  was  delayed,  Britain  is  not  to  receive 
the  credit.  It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  she 
did  not  show  any  disposition  to  fight — alone — for  the 
sanctity  of  a  treaty.  She  waited  patiently  for  a  more 
favorable  day,  a  day  when  she  could  be  sure  of  the 
necessary  assistance.  Had  Germany  violated  Bel- 
gian neutrality,  and  France  and  Russia  remained 
neutral,  may  we  not  make  a  good  guess  how  far 
Britain  would  go  in  the  laudable  enterprise  of  up- 
holding the  sanctity  of  this  treaty. 

The  future  British  historian,  no  doubt,  would 
readily  excuse  his  country  for  not  trying  to  enforce 
the  Belgian  treaty  like  the  brilliant  apologist  did 
regarding  the  Black  Sea  incident  when  he  wrote  "it 
would  have  been  a  piece  of  preposterous  quixoty  on 
the  part  of  England  to  take  on  herself  alone  the  re- 
sponsibility of  maintaining  the  sanctity  of  the  treaty." 

There  are  three  things  to  be  learned  from  that  in- 

[50] 


cident;  first,  Britain  will  not  fight  no  matter  what 
principle  is  involved,  unless  the  outcome  is  considered 
a  foregone  conclusion;  second,  that  she  would  have 
been  guilty  of  bringing  on  a  general  European  war 
in  1870  on  so  trivial  a  thing  as  the  enforcement  of 
the  neutrality  of  the  Black  sea,  had  she  suceeded  in 
dragging  other  nations  in  with  her;  third,  in  1914 
she  was  willing  to  prostitute  herself  by  making  an 
alliance  with  Russia,  a  self-confessed  violater  of  the 
sanctity  of  treaties,  in  war  on  another  power  that  she 
deemed  guilty  of  the  same  offense. 

The  Belgian  neutrality  controversy  affords  for  both 
the  historian  and  student  of  human  psychology,  food 
for  reflection.  In  contemplating  the  purposes  and 
object  of  this  treaty,  we  are  reminded  of  a  certain 
New  York  apartment  house  landlord,  who  saw  the 
desirability  of  making  a  rule  that  no  tenents  having 
children  would  be  admitted.  As  this  apartment  house 
was  small  and  desirable,  he  could  be  discriminating. 
He  began  by  accepting  couples  well  on  in  years,  but 
there  was  one  couple  who  had  been  with  him  some 
time,  that  he  was  rather  inclined  to  favor,  but  he 
had  some  misgivings  on  account  of  their  age,  as  to 
their  eligibility.  As  they  had  been  with  him  for 
several  years  and  their  household  during  that  time 
had  not  become  larger,  he  concluded  to  give  them  a 
chance.  However,  he  took  the  precaution  to  put  in 
the  lease,  that  they  should  have  no  children,  either 
now  or  in  the  future.  Figuring  on  past  records  and 
future  prospects,  the  more  or  less  happy  couple  con- 
cluded to  sign.  All  went  well  for  a  while,  but  in  the 
due  course  of  time  the  unexpected  happened,  a  new 
arrival  made  its  appearance.  Trouble  was  in  the  air. 

[51] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Have  we  not  here  a  more  or  less  wilful  destroyer  of 
the  sacredness  and  sanctity  of  leases?  Out  he  must 
go — he  must  be  punished.  This  goes  to  show  that 
leases  and  restrictive  treaties  do  not  take  into  account 
human  progress  and  human  necessities. 

This,  now  celebrated,  treaty,  was  first  signed  in 
the  early  part  of  the  last  century  and  revised  and 
strengthened  later.  It  will  be  remembered,  the  causes 
that  led  to  its  revision.  Britain  discovered  that  a 
deal  was  on  between  Prussia  and  France  whereby 
under  certain  conditions,  France  would  become  the 
possessor  of  Belgium.  Britain  naturally  stepped  in 
and  frustrated  the  deal.  As  both  parties  were  being 
caught  red-handed,  they  were  ready  to  sign  any 
guarantee  of  Belgian  neutrality.  Accompanying 
the  serious  turn  that  this  affair  took,  there  re- 
mains the  ludicrous  side.  In  1914  it  became 
necessary  to  go  to  war  to  uphold  this  treaty. 
And  what  spectacle  did  we  behold  ?  We  find 
loyally  at  Britain's  side  in  this  sacred  cause,  Russia, 
the  arch  violator  of  the  Black  Sea  treaty,  and  France, 
who  in  1866  was  not  only  a  prospective  violator  but 
actually  ready  to  annex  that  unfortunate  little  coun- 
try; and  in  addition  to  these,  her  latest  ally,  Pagan 
Japan,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Great  Britain  her- 
self, violated  the  neutrality  of  China,  against  China's 
solemn  protest,  by  landing  Japanese  and  British  troops 
on  Chinese  soil  to  capture  the  German  possession, 
Kiao-Chau. 

Treaties  of  this  kind  are  generally  one-sided  affairs, 
and  are  simply  declarations  governing  future  purposes 
and  behavior.  In  this  case,  Prussia  signed  a  certain 
engagement  without  a  compensating  equivalent.  This 

[52] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

in  law  would,  of  necessity,render  the  document  worth- 
less. She  entered  this  engagement  at  that  particular 
time  to  calm  a  distressed  and  excited  neighbor.  Had 
Prussia  refused  to  sign,  Britain  certainly  could  not 
have  gone  to  war  to  compel  her  to  do  so,  as  she  could 
not  have  deemed  her  guilty  of  violating  a  treaty  unless 
she  had  violated  it.  Germany  was,  perhaps,  as  much 
of  a  sly  knave  in  signing  a  document  such  as  this, 
when  she  knew  it  would  be  repudiated  should  repu- 
diation become  necessary,  as  Britain  was  a  fool  to 
expect  the  engagement  to  be  kept,  no  matter  what 
circumstances  might  present  themselves. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  understood  this  when  he  made 
the  following  declaration,  as  printed  in  the  "Outlook" 
in  the  fall  of  1914:  "When  giants  are  engaged  in  a 
death  struggle,  as  they  reel  to  and  fro,  they  are  certain 
to  trample  on  whomever  gets  in  the  way  of  the  huge, 
stormy  combatants.  When  before  our  eyes  a  score 
of  treaties  and  of  engagements  of  the  most  solemn 
kind  are  those  literally  not  to  be  worth  the  paper  they 
are  written  on,  there  is  something  both  pathetic  and 
ludicrous  in  the  belief  that  signing  names  to  a  bit  of 
paper  will  of  and  by  itself  forward  the  cause  of 
peace." 

Practically  the  same  view  of  this  treaty  was  held  by 
Mr.  Gladstone,  when,  in  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons he  said:  "I  am  not  able  to  subscribe  to  the 
doctrine  of  those  who  have  held,  in  this  house,  what 
plainly  amounts  to  the  assertion  that  the  simple  fact 
of  the  existence  of  a  guaranty  is  binding  on  all  parties 
to  it,  irrespective,  altogether,  of  the  particular  posi- 
tion in  which  it  finds  itself  at  the  time  in  which  the 
occasion  for  acting  on  the  guaranty  arises." 

[53] 


THE  WAR  GULIT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

It  is  true  that  Germany  may  have  had  ulterior 
reasons  for  the  invasion  of  Belgium — dark  and  dia- 
bolical—and thus  breaking  an  obligation;  but  who 
can  truthfully  say  that  she  did  not  have  a  parallel 
reason  to  act  as  she  did,  if  we  agree  that  a  country's 
self-protection  and  safety  is  the  first  duty  of  its 
rulers — as  self-preservation  is  the  first  supreme  duty 
of  society.  I  may,  for  instance,  sign  an  agreement 
with  my  neighbor  not  to  cross  his  property,  or  in 
any  way  trespass  on  it,  but  if  I  saw  my  house  in 
flames  and  my  family  endangered,  would  I  not  only 
be  justified  in  violating  my  agreement  by  crossing 
his  property  in  order  to  make  haste,  but  I  would  be 
well  within  my  moral  rights  in  felling  any  person  who 
would  stand  in  my  way? 

All  military  authorities  in  Europe  were  agreed  that, 
owing  to  a  general  preparedness,  much  depended  on 
the  swiftness  of  the  first  blow,  when  hostilities  were 
inevitable.  When  the  life  of  a  nation  is  at  stake,  its 
rulers  have  on  their  shoulders  a  responsibility  that 
transcends  all  other  responsibilities.  To  split  hairs 
on  questions  of  honor  or  niceties,  in  such  an  emer- 
gency, would  be  as  idiotic  as  for  a  man  on  the  way  to 
the  hospital  with  a  friend  bleeding  to  death  would  be, 
to  delay  reaching  there,  and  give  as  an  excuse,  that 
he  did  so  in  order  not  to  violate  the  traffic  speed  law. 

War  is  not  a  parlor  affair,  a  Sunday  school  picnic 
or  a  fashion  parade.  War  is  hell  from  the  start  and 
hell  to  the  finish,  and  no  soil  is  sacred  on  hell's  borders. 
You  might  just  as  well  try  to  draw  an  arbitrary  neu- 
tral line  between  paradise  and  purgatory,  between 
sanity  and  insanity,  or  east  and  west,  as  to  name  the 

[54] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

boundaries,  the  exits,  or  entrances  for  the  arch -demon 
War. 

Political  policies  are  influenced,  as  they  should  be, 
by  time,  place  and  circumstances.  No  institution  is 
permanent — all  earthly  things  are  in  the  course  of 
change — transitory.  Nations,  like  men,  in  their  ac- 
tion, will  always  be  guided  by  exigencies  and  circum- 
stances— more  especially  when  it  is  a  question  of  life 
or  death. 

It  is,  of  course,  undoubtedly  true  that  some  nations 
observe  the  terms  of  treaties  more  religiously  than 
others.  It  may  even  be  true  that  Britain  has  more  of 
a  clean  record  than  most  countries,  considering  the 
magnitude  of  such  undertakings.  But  it  must  be 
observed,  that  a  larger  percentage  of  the  British  so- 
called  treaties,  are  not,  strictly  speaking,  treaties  at 
all — merely  concessions — stipulating  what  the  other 
party  agrees  to  do.  And  it  will  be  found  in  a  large 
number  of  these  cases  that  bullets  have  had  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  acquiesence  in  these  terms — lead 
bullets  of  the  Marlborough,  Roberts  and  Kitchener 
type;  supplemented  by  the  no  less  potent  silver 
bullets  of  the  Lloyd  George  variety. 

When  nations  play  for  the  favorable  public  opinion 
of  the  world,  (for  public  opinion  is  an  asset  as  tang- 
ible as  gold)  and  seek  to  prove  the  guilt  of  their  op- 
ponents and  their  own  innocence,  it  is  imperative,  in 
the  interest  of  justice,  to  know  whether  or  not  all 
parties  are  appearing  in  court  with  clean  or  unclean 
hands.  With  this  in  view,  it  would  be  unfair,  in  this 
inquiry,  if  we  did  not  inquire,  to  some  extent,  into 
the  antecedents  of  the  nation  that  has  made  the  vio- 
lation of  treaties,  her  reason  for  entering  the  world  war. 

[55] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

We  do  not  have  to  go  very  far  back  into  internat- 
ional criminal  history  to  find  the  trail  of  the  serpent 
leading  to  the  nation,  which  has  been  assuming  the 
role  of  "protector"  of  small  peoples,  and  the  ob- 
server of  international  covenants. 

A  narration  of  the  case  of  Egypt,  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  everybody,  will  suffice  to  prove  Britain's  hypocrisy, 
without  even  referring  to  the  fact  that  she  guaranteed 
the  independence  of  Persia,  yet  she,  by  a  secret  deal, 
allowed  Russia  to  practically  possess  her.  She  also 
guaranteed  the  independence  of  Korea,  yet  she 
allowed  her  ally,  Japan,  to  possess  and  enslave  these 
unfortunate  people.  She  sanctioned  the  division  of 
Morocco  between  her  friends,  France  and  Spain. 

Twenty-eight  years  ago,  Britain,  like  the  giant 
python,  after  duly  covering  its  victim  with  slime, 
began  the  process  of  swallowing  Egypt,  and  the  last 
gulp  was  taken  on  December  18, 1914  ,and  now  Egypt 
is  an  undigested  lump  in  Britain's  belly.  This  fact 
must  be  brought  clearly  to  the  attention  of  all  our 
people,  particularly  those  who  sided  with  Britain  in 
the  late  struggle,  believing  that  she  was  fighting  for 
high  international  principles. 

Britain  began  her  real  occupation  of  Egypt  in  1892, 
and  for  what  purpose?  Ostensibly  for  putting  down 
an  insurrection,  but  really  to  collect  bonded  and  other 
indebteness,  much  of  which  was  purchased  by  her 
at  a  small  fraction  on  the  dollar.  Promise  after 
promise  was  made  by  Britain  that  she  would  with- 
draw from  that  country,  but  she  kept  complete  con- 
trol, and  on  December  18,  1914,  as  has  been  stated, 
removed  the  lawful  Khedive  and  appointed  one  of 
her  own  choice,  who  would  be  a  mere  tool,  and  who 

[56] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

was  maintained  against  the  wishes  of  the  people  of 
Egypt,  and  by  the  power  of  Britain's  military  forces. 
The  British  Press  acknowledged  from  that  date  that 
the  flag  of  Britain  floated  over  Egypt. 

On  Monday,  August  25,  1919,  the  Honorable  Jos- 
eph W.  Folk,  Ex-Governor  of  Missouri,  recently 
Chief  counsel  for  the  Department  of  State,  and  Ex- 
Counsel  for  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
appeared  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign 
relations,  and  gave  the  following  testimony:  "Great 
Britain  first  entered  Egypt  on  the  pretext  of  pro- 
tecting the  Khedive  against  the  rebels  among  his 
own  people.  She  then  continued  to  stay  on  the  pre- 
text of  protecting  the  people  against  the  tyranny  of 
the  Khedive.  So  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  Eng- 
land was  occupying  Egypt  in  that  way. 

"On  December  18, 1914,  Great  Britain  seized  Egypt 
through  the  appointment  of  a  Sultan  by  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  now,  contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  cove- 
nant of  the  League  of  Nations,  and  her  previous 
promises,  Great  Britain  asks  that  Egypt  be  turned 
over  to  Great  Britain  without  the  consent  of  the 
Egyptians,  as  a  subject  and  conquered  nation. 

"Further:  that  the  Egyptian  Commission,  now  in 
Paris,  is  in  virtual  imprisonment.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  send  their  representatives  to  the  United 
States.  Great  Britain  does  not  seem  anxious  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  should  know  the 
story  of  Egypt. 

"Thus,  by  the  seizure,  Great  Britain  has  added  to 
her  enormous  acquisitions  350,000  square  miles,  much 
as  rich  as  Illinois  or  Iowa,  and  13,000,000  souls" 

[57] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

This  very  modern  instance,  as  above  set  forth, 
without  going  farther,  will  show  the  cant  and  hypo- 
crisy of  Britain  in  her  world  heralded  claims  of  enter- 
ing the  war  as  a  defender  of  small  nations  and  the 
upholder  of  the  sanctity  of  international  agreements. 
This  fact,  clearly  understood  and  established,  will 
do  more  to  clear  the  atmosphere,  so  that  world  affairs 
may  be  seen  in  their  true  light  and  relation,  than 
anything  we  may  well  conceive. 

Why,  then,  did  Britain  go  into  the  war?  We  have 
seen  that  we  cannot  take  her  word.  Her  reason,  we 
have  found  to  be  false  and  hypocritical.  Her  record 
and  the  facts  are  against  her. 

We  have  to  judge  nations  precisely  as  we  would 
individuals.  In  the  case  of  a  man  charged  with  mur- 
der, a  motive  must  be  shown.  Britain,  by  some,  is 
charged  with  a  very  grave  offense.  She  is  not 
charged  with  wantonly  bringing  on  the  war,  but 
with  criminally  refusing  to  stay  the  hand  that  un- 
leashed the  dogs  of  war.  Britain's  crime  was  crim- 
inal passiveness,  not  criminal  activeness.  She  wanted 
war,  under  certain  conditions,  and  yet  she  did  not 
want  war.  No  doubt,  she  recoiled  from  the  thought 
of  war — that  portion  of  her  that  was  highly  civilized 
recoiled  from  the  horrible  prospect — but  at  the  same 
time  circumstances  impelled  her  to  play  two  parts. 
Two  spirits  took  possession  of  her;  the  spirit  of  light, 
and  the  spirit  of  darkness.  Her  better  nature  told 
her  to  stop  the  war  at  all  cost,  and  take  European 
leadership  until  sanity  would  again  be  enthroned. 
The  spirit  of  darkness  said  to  her:  "This  is  your 
opportunity — seize  it."  Instead  of  deciding  she  hesi- 
tated. To  ease  her  conscience,  she  importuned  Ger- 

[58] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

many  to  stay  the  hand  of  Austria.  Germany's  reply 
came  instantly:  "See  the  Czar— I  only  move  if  he 
does."  Britain  knew  in  her  heart,  that  Russia's 
mobilization  was  bringing  Germany  into  the  conflict, 
and  that  one  sure  way  to  ward  off  hostilities,  was  to 
persuade  Russia  to  cease  mobilizing — to  cease  mobil- 
izing even  at  the  peril  of  losing  Britain  as  an  ally. 
This,  she  did  not  do.  She  pleaded  with  the  leader  of 
the  Triple  Alliance,  her  enemy,  but  failed  to  use  all 
means  in  her  power  to  check  Russia — her  erstwhile 
friend.  Does  anyone  dare  state  that  Russia  would 
have  gone  to  war  without  the  implied  assistance  of 
France  and  Britain;  much  less  than  to  imagine 
France  would  have  entered  the  war  without  a  tacit 
British  understanding  or  the  assurance  of  a  firm 
Russian  understanding. 

What  was  it  that  Britain  asked  Germany  to  do? 
Was  it  not  to  curb  her  dependable  ally — Austria, 
while  that  ally  was  in  a  state  of  national  high  temper, 
beginning,  as  she  was,  to  punish  Servia  for  the  atro- 
cious killing  of  her  Prince  and  Princess.  Austria  was 
justly  and  naturally  enraged.  She  wanted  satis- 
faction of  a  very  practical  and  very  human  kind. 
Germany  replied  in  substance:  "My  friend  Austria 
is  aggrieved,  she  is  righteously  indignant.  She  is  tem- 
porarily in  high  temper.  I  believe,  for  her  own  good, 
Servia  should  be  chastised,  therefore,  tell  your  friend 
Russia  to  lay  down  her  arms — she  has  not  been  hurt, 
she  has  not  been  insulted  or  angered,  her  national 
honor  has  not,  as  yet,  been  violated."  If  Britain  took 
this  advice  and  acted  accordingly  on  it,  we  have  no 
record  of  it. 

[59] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Now,  presuming  Germany  had  coerced  Austria,  no 
doubt  the  great  war  would  have  been,  at  least  tem- 
porarily averted — how  long  no  one  can  tell.  In  that 
she  would  have  alienated  the  only  country  she  could 
reasonably  depend  upon,  in  the  future,  in  case  of  a 
life  and  death  struggle,  with  Russia  and  France  com- 
bined. Austria's  good  will  and  support  was  abso- 
lutely indispensable  to  Germany,  owing  to  her  critical, 
isolated  location.  Had  Britain  coerced  Russia,  and 
Russia  became  estranged  thereby,  this  loss  would  not 
be  as  vital  to  Britain  as  the  loss  of  Austria  to  Ger- 
many, for  England  was  still  safe,  without  an  ally, 
behind  her  moving  walls  of  iron  and  steel. 

Thousands  in  Britain  at  the  critical  time,  saw  the 
danger.  They  pleaded  with  the  British  Government  to 
curb  Russia  as  the  only  logical  thing  to  do  under  the 
circumstances,  but  they  were  not  heeded.  This  was 
vital.  Bearing  on  this  point  of  view,  the  represen- 
tative of  the  Associated  Press  in  London,  cabled  the 
Los  Angeles  Times  and  other  American  newspapers, 
the  following  important  summary,  dated  London, 
August  1st,  1914:  "The  feature  of  the  war  situation 
here  to-day  is  the  growing  intensity  of  the  debate, 
whether  Britain  should  or  should  not  take  part  in  the 
threatened  European  slaughter.  Those  desiring  peace 
are  concentrating  a  strong  fire  on  Premier  Asquith 
and  Sir  Edward  Grey;  demand  that  Russia  be  com- 
manded to  halt  on  the  penalty  of  Britain's  repu- 
diation of  the  Triple  Entente.  Their  argument  first 
is:  that  Britain  is  not  only  free  as  regards  legal  obli- 
gations but  is  free  on  the  point  of  honor,  hence  the 
right  to  hold  aloof  from  any  war  that  it  does  not 
sanction;  secondly:  that  Russia  has  already  violated 

[60] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

the  entente  by  its  anti-British  proceedings  in  Persia 
and  elsewhere  in  central  Asia;  thirdly:  that  civili- 
zation would  be  better  off  with  Germany  dominating 
the  continent  than  Russia  in  the  dominant  position. 

"A  solemn  warning  is  sounded  against  the  colossal 
mass  of  Slavic  ignorance  and  barbarism  that  is  sweep- 
ing over  Europe,  as  barbarians  swept  over  it  at  the 
time  of  the  great  migrations.  They  declare  that  the 
Slavic  race  in  its  whole  existence  has  not  produced 
more  than  a  dozen  first  rate  men,  and  that  Britain 
must  not  co-operate  with  such  a  power  in  assailing 
the  beneficent  civilization  of  the  Germanic  peoples. 
These  views  are  supported  by  letters  and  telegrams 
from  individuals  and  societies,  and  by  personal 
appeals  by  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  noted  men  in 
the  United  Kingdom." 

The  British  Ministry  did  not  take  this  advice,  but 
spent  their  precious  time  in  sending  notes  to  Germany 
until  Russia,  Germany  and  France  had  drifted  into 
war,  and  were  already  at  each  others  throats.  Brit- 
ain, mysteriously,  was  held  back  from  checking  Rus- 
sia, as  if  by  the  unseen  hand  of  her  darkest  past. 

On  August  5th,  Great  Britain,  after  seeing  Russia, 
France  and  Belgium  at  war  on  her  great  rival,  de- 
cided that  her  time  for  striking  had  at  last  arrived. 

As  the  Los  Angeles  Daily  Times  of  August  2nd 
significantly  stated,  editorially  ^ 
like 


&ytiifite  nrorfeqto 
M 
rele'gatfti'glh&i'  &*'  the  . 


w 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Russians  on  her  eastern  border,  40,000,000  revengeful 
French  on  her  western  border,  all  bent  on  dismember- 
ing and  dismantling  Germany.  Could  not  Britain, 
according  to  accepted  views,  at  that  time,  play  a 
safe  and  sure  game?  Of  the  belligerents,  was  she  not 
the  most  enviable  of  all?  Her  people  were  safe  from 
attack.  The  great  battles  would  be  fought  on  soil 
other  than  her  own.  Her  fleet  long  in  idleness,  could 
now  sweep  the  seven  seas  clean  of  the  enemy.  She 
knew  Germany  had  only  a  nominal  and  normal  supply 
of  food,  and  this  would  only  last  a  given  length  of 
time  and  then — starvation — a  heretofore  useful  ally 
— would  help  finish  the  undertaking. 

Her  four  allies,  Russia,  France,  Belgium  and  Star- 
vation, were  thought  sufficient  to  overwhelm  Ger- 
many without  her  furnishing  much  of  her  man- 
power. 

Immediately,  Great  Britain  announced  her  war 
aims,  the  complete  physical  victory  over  her  enemy. 
This  announcement  adhered  to,  made  it  impossible 
for  Germany,  at  any  time  in  the  future,  to  compro- 
mise. There  was  nothing  left  but  abject  surrender 
or  fight  to  a  finish.  Germany  had  to  make  her 
arrangements  accordingly.  Now  what  did  the  ful- 
fillment of  these  war  aims  mean  to  Britain?  It  would 
mean  a  crippled  commercial  rival.  It  would  mean 
the  return  of  Alsace-Lorraine  to  France,  taking  from 
Germany  the  coal  and  iron — which  had  been  the  basis 
of  her  competitive  industry.  It  would  mean  the 
capture  of  the  German  fleet — dead  or  alive — either 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  or  floating  gracefully  into  a 
British  harbor,  a  British  prize,  her  share  of  the  pros- 
pective war  loot.  It  meant  not  only  would  Germany 

[62] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

be  crushed,  but  in  the  crushing  process,  would  not 
Russia  be  more  or  less  dismantled  as  a  result  of  her 
collision  with  Germany,  and  India,  therefore,  would 
be  safe  for  at  least  another  generation?  In  other 
words — she  would  by  this  process  get  rid  of  two 
rivals  at  one  and  the  same  time.  And  what  of  the 
German  colonies?  Nothing,  then,  of  these  was  men- 
tioned but  the  British  lion,  with  a  far-off  look  in  his 
eyes,  was  licking  contemplatively  his  immense  chops. 

If,  in  passing  a  house  you  discovered  a  man  crawl- 
ing through  a  window,  and  you  questioned  him  re- 
garding his  intentions,  and  he  tells  you  that  he  is 
going  in  to  protect  a  child  from  an  attack — you  may 
well  pass  on  with  your  suspicions  dispelled,  but  on 
your  return  you  find  him  emerging  from  a  wrecked 
neighborhood,  the  owners  put  to  flight  and  find  this 
man  and  his  friends  collecting  everything  of  value 
in  sight,  you  naturally  would  feel  that  you  were  de- 
ceived. 

If  we  had  any  doubts  of  the  good  intentions  of 
the  Triple  Entente  when  the  war  began,  what  must 
we  now  think  after  reviewing  the  terms  of  the  Peace 
Treaty,  which  has  been  presented  for  the  scrutiny  of 
a  startled  world? 

It  is  said  that  every  man  has  his  price.  This  price 
may  be  money  or  honor,  or  even  safety.  Britain's 
"price"  in  entering  the  war  may  not  have  been  either 
indemnity  or  territory,  but  it  certainly  was  a  crushed 
rival,  and  the  German  Fleet  "dead  or  alive."  These 
were  the  two  things  that  Britain  wanted,  and  her 
allies  were  welcome  to  all  the  rest  (perhaps  with  the 
exception  of  the  German  colonies.)  Britain  got  these 
things,  but  at  what  cost!  Hundreds  of  thousands  of 

[63] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

her  young  manhood  are  buried  in  a  foreign  soil;  the 
maimed  and  diseased  are  shuffling  up  and  down  every 
highway  and  byway,  where  the  British  flag  floats, 
around  the  world;  a  crushing  debt  on  every 
household  in  the  land;  her  foreign  credits  nearly  all 
wiped  out;  now  a  debtor,  no  longer  a  creditor  nation; 
her  people  discontented  at  home  and  discredited 
abroad;  herself  one  of  the  most  appalling  victims  of 
"Peace  by  complete  physical  victory." 

Had  Britain's  leaders  in  August,  1914,  seen  one- 
tenth  of  the  picture  of  the  desolation  of  the  world 
to-day,  instead  of  wasting  their  efforts  with  the  Ger- 
man Emperor,  they  would  have  torn  themselves  from 
the  Russian  alliance  as  they  would  from  the  claws  of 
a  tiger,  the  fangs  of  a  serpent  or  the  embrace  of  a 
leper. 


[64] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

CHAPTER  III 
FRANCE 

Little  did  Spain  think  when  she  offered  the  Span- 
ish Crown  to  Leopold,  a  German  Prince,  that  she 
was  unwittingly  sowing  the  seed  from  which  would 
grow  a  great  European  war,  and  out  of  the  settlement 
of  that  war,  the  greatest  war  of  all  history. 

The  source  of  a  mighty  river  may  be  found  in  the 
side  of  a  mountain,  thousands  of  miles  away.  The 
beautiful  city  of  Chicago,  built  as  it  is  on  modern 
lines,  was  made  possible  by  a  cow  kicking  over  a  kero- 
sene lamp  fifty  years  ago. 

The  germs  of  this  great  war  were  injected  into  the 
veins  of  the  body  politic  of  Europe  in  1870,  when 
Spain  offered  the  crown  of  Isabella  to  Leopold  of 
Hoenzollern.  That  offer  was  the  direct  cause  of  the 
Franco-German  war;  and  the  annexation  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  by  Germany,  as  embodied  in  the  Peace 
settlement  of  that  war,  contributed  as  nothing  else 
did  to  the  war  just  closed. 

Napoleon  II I  of  France  had  long  looked  for  a  pre- 
text for  war.  His  rule  was  acknowledged  to  be 
burdensome,  prosaic  and  commonplace.  There  was 
nothing  in  it  to  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  his 
temperamental  and  volatile  countrymen.  He  had 
been  frustrated  in  his  attempts  to  annex  Belgium. 
He  saw  Prussia  adding  to  her  provinces.  His  dream 
was  the  annexation  of  all  the  beautiful  western  Rhine 
lands.  As  he  grew  desperate,  he  became  correspond- 
ingly bolder  and  more  daring.  He  was  urged  on  by 

[65] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

his  Ministers,  and  by  his  festering  servile  court.  The 
psychological  moment  had  arrived,  and  the  pretext, 
events  had  furnished. 

When  the  Crown  of  Spain  was  offered  to  Leopold,* 
the  French  Emperor  immediately  objected,  and  an- 
nounced that  he  never  would  acquiesce  in  any  such 
extension  of  Germany's  prestige  and  power.  The 
King  of  Prussia  in  deference  to  this  protest,  ad- 
vised Leopold  to  refuse  the  proffered  crown,  which 
he  immediately  did.  This  ready  compliance,  on  the 
part  of  William,  was  not  sufficient  for  the  haughty 
French  Monarch  and  his  advisors.  They  demanded 
that  not  only  Germany  would  not  allow  one  of  her 
princes  to  take  the  crown,  not  only  now,  but  should 
agree  that  they  would  not  do  so  in  the  future.  A 
further  demand  was  made  that  King  William  write 
Napoleon  a  letter  of  apology  for  having  even  con- 
templated allowing  a  German  prince  to  accept  the 
Spanish  succession.  In  twenty-four  hours  Prussia 
was  ablaze  with  indignation,  and  the  French  Am- 
bassador was  practically  ordered  to  leave  Berlin. 
France  replied  by  declaring  war.  As  every  school 
child  knows,  the  fortunes  of  this  war  were  Germany's. 
Had  France  won,  the  eastern  frontier  of  that  country 
would  have  been  the  Rhine.  France's  greatest  apolo- 
gist will  admit  that.  For  a  number  of  years  prior  to 
1870,  France  unmistakably  showed  desires  for  the 
west  bank  of  the  Rhine.  At  the  Congress  of  Paris 
held  in  1856,  Britain  was  compelled  to  curb  France 
in  that  regard.  When  France's  proposition  came 

*Prince  Leopold  was  more  nearly  related  to  the  Bonapartes  than  to  the 
Hohenzollerns.  His  father  was  son  of  the  French  Princess,  Marie  Antoinette, 
a  neice  of  Murat,  King  of  Naples.  His  mother  was  the  Princess  Josephine,  a 
daughter  of  the  Princess  Stephanie,  sister  of  Hortense  De  Beauharnais. 

[66] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

up  before  the  Congress,  Lord  Clarendon,  the  Brit- 
ish Representative  replied:  "That  means  plainly  the 
Rhine  border  for  France  and  the  transmutation  of 
the  German  Confederacy."  France  withdrew  her 
proposition  and  waited  for  a  more  favorable  oppor- 
tunity. That  opportunity  came  in  1870  and  then  she 
played  for  this  big  stake — and  lost.  Instead  of  gain- 
ing beautiful  western  Rhineland,  she  lost  Alsace- 
Lorraine.  "She  went  after  wool  and  came  back 
shorn."  In  this  she  has  not  shown  the  saving  grace 
of  even  the  gambler. 

Among  gamblers  the  "squeeler"  is  considered  the 
most  despicable  of  all  creatures;  he  plays  the  game 
as  the  game  is  played — he  loses  and  forthwith  he 
rushes  out,  calls  the  police,  seeks  the  sympathy  of 
his  neighbors  and  lies  awake  nights  conjuring  how 
he  can  "get  even."  He  makes  up  his  mind  that  on 
the  first  opportunity  he  will  recover  his  loss  by  force. 
So  he  waits  until  he  can  get  two  or  three  sympathizers, 
and  at  the  first  opportunity  the  enemy  is  waylayed 
andjafter  a  disastrous  fight,  the  lost  treasure  is  regained. 

To  regain  these  lost  provinces,  France  stood  ready 
to  unite  forces  with  any  European  despot  or  despots. 
Their  quarrel,  no  matter  how  despicable,  was  her 
quarrel,  provided  her  quarrel  would  be  made  their 
quarrel. 

The  day  previous  to  the  appearance  on  the  horizon 
of  the  European  war  cloud  in  1914,  had  any  inhabi- 
tant of  France,  from  school  boy  to  president,  been 
asked  to  name  that  which  he  desired  above  all  things 
barring  the  saving  of  his  own  immortal  soul,  he 
would  have  promptly  answered:  "Alsace-Lorraine 
avenged."  There  can  be  no  two  opinions  regarding  this. 

[67] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Now,  when  the  war  broke  out  and  each  country 
was  trying  to  clear  its  skirts  of  the  guilt  of  contribu- 
ting to  the  starting  of  the  war,  and  when  France  was 
successfully  playing  the  "innocent  and  injured"  part, 
was  it  not  the  duty  of  the  neutral  world  to  come  out 
boldly  and  ask  her  this  pertinent  question:  "France, 
you  have  in  season  and  out  of  season,  by  day  and  by 
night  for  forty  years,  promised  to  avenge  Alsace- 
Lorraine  and  wrest  these  lost  provinces  from  Ger- 
many. Then,  when  did  you  expect  to  do  this?  Was 
it  not  when  you  felt  strong  enough  of  your  own 
strength,  or,  when  you  would  receive  the  assurances 
that  other  strength  added  to  your  own  would  make 
the  effort  a  success?  That  being  so,  have  you  not 
concluded  that  now  is  the  time,  and  have  you  not 
welcomed  and  made  your  plans  accordingly?" 

If  France  was  ever  going  to  make  good  her  oft 
expressed  intentions,surely  the  day  to  act  had  arrived. 
Was  it  not  but  a  few  years  ago  that  she  felt  almost 
equal  to  the  task  herself?  Now,  with  the  assistance  of 
180  million  Russians,  who  would  batter  her  enemy  on 
the  east,  and  the  might  and  power  of  the  British 
navy,  what  more  could  be  desired?  With  all  these 
things  in  her  favor  and  to  her  supreme  liking,  with 
hatred  and  revenge  in  her  heart,  can  she  expect  us  to 
believe  that  she  at  the  time  was  a  force  for  peace?  On 
the  contrary,  was  she  not  one  of  the  outstanding 
factors  which  made  war  not  only  possible  but  certain? 
In  conformity  with  this,  is  it  any  wonder  we  find  her 
suppressing  peace  demonstrations,  even  before  Ger- 
many mobilized?  Are  there  any  records  to  show  that 
she  sought  sincerely  to  stay  the  hand  of  Russia?  Are 
there  any  records  to  show  that  she  sought  to  join 

[68] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Britain  in  bringing  pressure  to  bear  on  Russia?  There 
are  no  such  records. 

The  terrible  thing  in  this  whole  connection  was 
the  fact  that  for  forty  years,  by  reason  of  her  national 
and  undying  hatred  for  Germany,  France  could  be 
used  at  any  time  to  support  the  subterranean  mach- 
inations of  Britain  or  the  lustful  ambitions  of  Russia, 
provided  these  were  directed  against  Germany. 
Either  of  these  countries  separately  or  in  combina- 
tion, always  knew  they  had  the  support  of  France 
in  any  reprisals,  right  or  wrong,  directed  against 
Germany.  This  knowledge  distressed  many  a  lover 
of  peace,  throughout  the  world. 

Some  foolish  people,  even  to-day,  ask  why  it  was 
necessary  for  Germany  to  attack  France  when  her 
quarrel  originally  began  with  Russia.  Had  Germany 
turned  her  face  to  the  east  to  lock  arms  with  the 
Russian  bear,  France  would  have  been  on  her  back 
like  a  tiger.  For  days  before  hostilities  broke  out, 
France  was  crouched  on  her  haunches,  her  eyes 
ablaze,  ready  to  spring  on  the  back  of  Germany. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  European  war  cloud  ap- 
peared in  1914,  Professor  Albert  Leon  Guirard,  a 
brilliant  French  writer,  contributed  a  very  sym- 
pathic  and  luminous  article  entitled  "French  Re- 
venge", which  was  published  in  the  "Contemporary 
Review".  This  extract  from  the  article  will  prove 
very  enlightening: 

"Under  the  influences,  the  conception  of  a  revanche 
arose  immediately — spontaneously.  It  remained  for 
many  years  the  cardinal  principle  of  French  national 
life — the  thought  unuttered,  but  ever  present,  ac- 
cording to  the  dictum  of  Gambetta:  "Let  us  think 

[69] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

of  IT  always  and  never  speak  of  it."  Even  Victor 
Hugo,  the  prophet  of  peace,  and  universal  Republic 
had  to  confess:  "Another  war,  alas!!  Yet  it  is 
necessary";  and  all  of  the  leaders  of  French  thought, 
perhaps  Renan  alone  was  strong  enough  to  breast  the 
tide  of  popular  passion.  But  a  la  revanche  had  to  be 
postponed;  the  country  had  to  recuperate,  a  perman- 
ent government  had  to  be  established,  and  the  army 
must  be  reorganized " 

"The  Entente  Cordiale  with  England  left  our  treas- 
ure of  suspicion  and  hatred  undivided.  The  conflict 
with  Germany  became  intense  and  broader.  To  the 
eternal  Alsace-Lorraine  question  was  added  colonial 
rivalry,  and  all  fears  and  grievances  of  our  new  friends 
across  the  Channel " 

"What  about  the  future?  War  is  not  impossible, 
The  sudden  and  formidable  revival  of  Chauvenistic 
passion  in  a  Republic,  which  seems  to  be  torn  by 
religious  and  social  problems,  cannot  be  ignored.  For 
the  first  time,  perhaps  since  1870,  France  has  faced 
the  probability  of  war  almost  cheerfully.  Germany 
knows  this;  it  is  one  of  the  reasons  for  her  immense 
armament.  If  war  were  to  break  out,  of  course,  the 
odds  would  be  against  France,  but  the  result  would 
be  by  no  means  certain.  War,  in  all  probability, 
would  mean  a  conflict  between  the  Triple  Entente 
and  the  Triple  Alliance — a  possibility  which  makes 
one  shudder." 

The  above  extract  is  worth  reading  twice.  Here 
is  a  Frenchman  who  loves  his  country  devotedly, 
and  who  deprecates  the  spirit  of  revenge  that  he 
finds  rampant  throughout  France — knowing  where 
it  will  eventually  lead  the  nation;  pointing  out  in 

[70] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

plain  words  the  evil  effect  of  the  British  understand- 
ing with  his  countrymen,  and  at  the  same  time, 
sharing  to  some  extent  the  belief  shared  by  French- 
men that  in  a  single-handed  combat  with  Germany 
the  outcome  would  be  doubtful. 

It  is  evident  then  that  if  the  Frenchmen  had  doubts 
about  the  outcome  of  a  war  between  France  and  Ger- 
many, then  surely  there  could  be  no  doubt  in  their 
mind,  if  they  had  Russia  and  Britain  on  their  side. 
And  it  must  not  be  overlooked,  that  this  French 
writer  gives  an  excellent  reason  why  Germany  was 
forced  to  increase  her  armament;  a  reason  that 
should  be  carefully  noted  by  those  who  are  constantly 
condemning  Germany  for  having  thoroughly 
armed. 

France,  now,  is  again  in  possession  of  the  provinces 
which  she  lost  through  her  own  arrogance  and  indis- 
cretion in  1871.  She  obtained  this  result  by  reason 
of  the  assistance  given  her  by  Russia,  Britain  and 
America.  The  return  of  these  provinces  was  made 
one  of  the  principal  war  aims  of  the  allies.  The 
demand  for  the  return  of  these  provinces  was  con- 
tested to  the  last  by  Germany. 

The  question  of  the  return  of  Alsace-Lorraine 
proved  a  stumbling  block  to  early  peace  and  no  doubt 
delayed  peace  many  months. 

France  again  has  her  provinces.  The  gambler's 
losses  have  been  returned.  Thousands  of  Americans, 
not  counting  the  millions  of  the  unfortunates  of  other 
countries,  are  sleeping  in  French  soil  to-day  as  a 
result  of  being  dragged  from  their  homes  by  false 
leaders  for  the  purpose  of  undoing  the  diabolical 
work  of  Napoleon  III  and  his  mad  ministers. 

[VI] 


THE  WAR  GULIT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

It  is  indeed  sad  to  see  the  young  manhood  of  the 
world  slain  in  the  most  just  cause;  let  alone  such  a 
one  as  this;  but  it  is  even  more  distressing  to  know 
that  out  of  this  fiery  hell  the  nations  of  the  world 
have  not  come  out  purged  and  purified  as  we  all 
firmly  hoped,  but  on  the  contrary,  revenge,  hatred, 
greed  and  cupidity  are  the  four  cornerstones  upon 
which  the  victors  are  building  the  future  peace  of 
mankind. 


[72] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

CHAPTER  IV 

RUSSIA 

We  will  have  little  to  say  about  Russia.  The  bones 
of  her  last  Czar  are  now  bleaching  on  the  Siberian 
plains;  a  fit  resting  place,  among  the  countless  thou- 
sands of  his  victims.  Old  Russia  has  forever  passed 
away.  New  Russia  has  been  born — born  in  a  home 
of  starvation,  desolation  and  ruin.  Out  of  this  cradle 
may  yet  come  the  hope  of  mankind — who  can  tell? 
We  have  heard  a  new  strange  voice — the  voice  of  an 
infant — but  it  has  been  heard  around  the  world.  To 
some,  it  is  the  angel  whisper  of  hope,  a  rift  in  the 
clouds,  a  voice  announcing  the  rising  sun  for  the 
enslaved  and  benighted  peoples  of  the  world. 

Cruel  monarchies,  and  more  or  less  enlightened  re- 
publics, have  joined  hands  to  crush  out  the  life  of 
this  new  born  child,  but  in  this  they  have  been  as 
impotent  and  as  helpless  as  chaff  before  a  hurricane. 

If  Russia  has  a  divine  message  for  this  torn  and 
bleeding  world,  that  means  peace  where  we  have  war, 
plenty  where  we  have  want,  freedom  where  we  have 
slavery,  hope  where  we  have  despair,  then  all  the 
armies  of  the  nations  and  all  the  gold  in  the  world's 
vaults,  and  all  the  lies  of  Ananias  multiplied  a 
million  times  by  a  depraved  and  viper  press,  will  be 
as  helpless  and  impotent  to  stay  its  onward  march  as 
the  murderers  of  Christ  were  two  thousand  years  ago. 

In  this  great  war  all  governments,  whether  des- 
potic, limited  monarchies  or  republics,  sacrificed  and 
betrayed  their  peoples.  If  new  born  Russia  holds 

[731 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

for  the  future  the  germs  of  a  true  democracy — a  de- 
mocracy that  will  represent  the  heart  and  conscience 
of  mankind,  instead  of  the  will  of  a  few  rulers,  or 
leaders,  God  speed  her  on  her  way. 


[74| 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

CHAPTER  V. 

UNITED  STATES 

On  Tuesday,  August  19th,  1919,  President  Wilson 
graciously  consented  to  receive  a  select  committee  of 
the  United  States  Senate;  for  the  purpose  of  explain- 
ing and  interpretating  the  Peace  Treaty  which  he 
had  recently  signed  in  Paris,  in  the  name  of  the  Amer- 
ican people. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  enlightening  admissions 
the  President  made  on  that  occasion,  and  which 
seems  as  yet  generally  unknown  to  the  world,  was 
his  admission  regarding  the  reasons  for  America's 
entering  the  war.  People  generally,  assume  that 
the  reason  America  went  into  the  war  was  on  ac- 
count of  the  acts  of  injustice  committed  by  Ger- 
many against  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
sinking  of  the  "Lusitania",  etc.  etc.  We  have 
found  that  this  was  all  an  error.  These  were  not  the 
reasons  at  all;  as  will  be  found  from  the  following 
statement: 

Senator  McCumber:  Do  you  think  if  Germany  had 
committed  no  act  of  war  or  no  act  of  injustice  against 
our  citizens,  would  we  have  gotten  into  the  war? 

President  Wilson :   I  think  so. 

Senator  McCumber:  Do  you  think  we  would  have 
gotten  in  anyway? 

President  Wilson:  I  do. 

At  last  the  mask  had  fallen  from  the  face  of  Amer- 
ica, or  at  least  from  the  face  of  President  Wilson,  and 

[75] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

now  we  are  able  to  see  a  little  clearer  and  a  little 
farther. 

It  is  evident  then  that  the  American  people  held 
the  opinion  that  they  went  into  the  war  on  account 
of  the  so-called  acts  of  injustice  perpetrated  by  Ger- 
many, and  President  Wilson  went  into  the  war  for 
reasons  of  his  own,  which  reasons  have  not  yet  been 
fully  determined  or  publicly  revealed. 

Now,  no  matter  what  these  reasons  were,  whether 
good  or  bad,  there  is  no  question  that  the  verdict  of 
the  future  will  record  two  of  the  most  tragic  and  far- 
reaching  blunders  in  the  annals  of  statesmanship, 
namely: 

(1)  The  mistake  of  United  States  in  taking  a  par- 
tisan side  instead  of  remaining  an  arbiter  and  a  judge 
between  the  warring  factions  of  Europe. 

(2)  When  America  did  decide  to  go  into  the  war, 
on  the  side  of  the  Entente  Allies,that  she  did  not  exact 
from  her  associates  a  hard  and  fast  agreement  cover- 
ing the  terms  of  future  peace;   and  not  to  leave  it 
until  the  day  when  Germany  lay  prostrate  at  her 
enemies'  feet,  at  which  time  America  would  be  of  no 
future  use  to  the  Allies,  and  would  not  be  in  a  position 
to  exact  peace  terms  that  would  be  healing  in  their 
nature,  and  which  would  form  a  basis  for  future  per- 
manent world  peace. 

Immediately,  on  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in 
Europe,  the  United  States  declared  her  official  neutral- 
ity. This,  indeed,  was  the  only  possible  neutrality 
that  could  be  expected,  considering  the  racial  com- 
plexion of  America. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  America  there  were  at  least 
seven  families  in  whose  veins  flowed  British,  French, 

[76] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Belgian  or  Russian  blood  to  one  of  German  or  Aus- 
trian blood— and  blood  is  naturally  thicker  than 
water. 

British  capital  controlled,  directly  or  indirectly,  a 
large  volume  of  American  business.  The  press,  to  a 
certain  extent,  was  influenced  by  British  capital,  or, 
at  least,  controlled  by  the  interests  which  had  direct 
or  indirect  connection  with  Lombard  Street.  It  be- 
came evident,  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  that  Europe 
would  be  compelled  to  call  on  America  for  billions  of 
dollars  worth  of  the  products  of  farm  and  factory.  It 
was  realized  full  well  that  owing  to  the  British  fleet, 
little  of  this  would  reach  Germany— practically  all 
would  go  the  the  Entente  Allies.  Big  business,  such 
as  this,  is  controlled  by  big  business  men,  and  big 
business  men  have  not  in  the  past  overlooked  the 
power  of  the  press,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1914, 
"big  business"  controlled  very  generally  the  press  of 
the  United  States — as  they,  unfortunately  for  the 
people,  do  to-day. 

Under  these  conditions,  as  might  be  expected, 
propaganda  was  soon  set  in  motion  to  create  a  sen- 
timent in  favor  of  the  Allies  and  to  discredit  Ger- 
many. Those  papers  that  had  given  their  views 
freely,  the  first  week  or  ten  days  after  the  war  began, 
laying  the  blame  on  all  the  nations  involved,  within 
thirty  days  changed  their  attitude  and  began  decry- 
ing Germany  and  lauding  the  "high  and  honorable 
v/ar  aims"  of  the  Entente.  Billions  of  dollars,  in 
long-term  credits,  must  be  given  to  Britain,  France 
and  Russia,  and  nothing  must  be  done  to  discredit 
these  debtors,  or  make  their  financial  position  in- 
secure. 

[77] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

The  ground  was  ready  for  the  seeds  of  such  a 
propaganda.  As  has  been  stated,  seven-eighths  of 
America  by  blood  was  Entente.  For  several  years 
prior  to  1914,  there  were  unmistakable  evidences  of 
a  rapprochement  between  America  and  Britain- 
evidences  that  time  had  nearly  healed  old  sores,  and 
past  animosities  were  being  forgotten.  In  addition 
to  this,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  generally  speaking, 
the  German  was  not  liked  in  this  country.  He  was 
"unpopular".  All  agreed  that  he  was  honest,  indus- 
trious, progressive— a  good  citizen  generally;  but  he 
was  not  accepted  whole-heartedly  or  with  warmth 
by  his  fellow  citizens. 

The  people  generally  did  not  like  his  pleasures,  his 
tastes,  his  accent,  or  even  his  appearance;  and  to  the 
ignorant  portion  of  the  population  he  was  "the  Dutch- 
man". He  was  not  in  favor  with  either  the  politic- 
ian or  the  charlatan.  He  did  not  respond  readily  to 
the  wiles  and  machinations  of  the  one  or  the  blandish- 
ments and  artifices  of  the  other. 

All  this  antipathy  was  difficult  to  trace  to  its  source. 
It  was  certainly  prejudice — ill-founded.  It  may  have 
been  that  there  was  a  feeling  of  resentment  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  German  possessed  more  painstaking, 
technical  knowledge  of  everyday  affairs  than  his 
neighbors;  and  that  he  may  have  at  times  shown 
contempt  for  prevailing  ignorance;  or  that  if  for  in- 
stance a  farmer,  he  set  too  high  a  standard  of  clean- 
liness, tidiness  and  order  for  some  of  his  shiftless, 
haphazard  and  lazy  neighbors. 

Considering  the  natural  antipathy  entertained  for 
the  Germans  and  the  returning  good  feeling  for  Brit- 
ain and  the  overwhelming  numbers  directly  or  in- 

[78] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

directly  connected  with  the  lands  of  the  Entente,  it 
can  easily  be  seen  what  fertile  field  the  propagandist 
had  at  his  disposal;  and  by  reason  of  this  one-sided 
condition,  the  German  in  America  was  placed  in  a 
very  unenviable  position.  He  would  have  been  less 
than  human  did  he  not  protest  against  the  heartless 
and  soulless  propaganda  that  was  placing  him  on  the 
defensive;  and  misrepresenting,  in  many  respects 
and  to  a  great  degree,  his  beloved  fatherland. 

When  these  people  protested  against  what  they 
honestly  believed  to  be  an  injustice,  they  were  re- 
minded by  many  that  the  German  was  in  America 
by  sufference;  implying  that  he  had  not  the  same 
right  to  be  here  as  the  others,  and  that  if  he  did  not 
like  conditions,  "Why  did  he  not  go  back  to  Germany?" 

It  might  be  advisable,  at  this  point,  to  examine 
the  question  why  any  people,  (other  than  Indians), 
are  here.  It  is,  indeed,  arrant  assumption,  to  take 
for  granted  that  this  great  virgin  continent  was  made 
and  held  by  the  Almighty  for  any  particular  race  or 
people.  It  is  a  question  even  now,  whether  Europeans 
have  not  a  great  sin  to  answer  for,  in  robbing  the 
Indian  of  his  birth-right — and  wiping  God's  creation 
from  the  face  of  America.  No  matter  what  view  we 
take  of  that  question,  there  are  no  two  opinions  re- 
garding the  fact  that  the  present  inhabitants  are 
usurpers,  and  so  far  as  title  is  concerned,  they  have 
none — or  at  least  no  title  that  is  founded  on  other 
than  might. 

The  German  in  coming  to  America,  naturally  and 
rightly  assumed  that  he  had  the  same  rights  here  as 
the  Briton,  Frenchman,  Canadian  or  any  other  man. 
It  was  no  love  for  America  that  brought  him  here  no 

[79] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

more  than  it  was  love  that  brought  any  other  out- 
sider. He  came  to  better  his  conditions.  He  came 
for  the  same  reason  that  one  million  Canadians  came 
here  and  for  the  same  reason  that  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion Americans  went  to  Canada.  Surely  no  intelli- 
gent American  will  contend  that  Canadians  settled 
here  in  order  to  live  under  a  government  permitting 
greater  freedom  or  one  that  would  afford  them  more 
protection  and  better  safeguards  than  those  under 
which  they  lived.  The  American  who  religiously  be- 
lieves that  his  liberties  were  and  are  perpetuated  alone 
by  his  wonderful  written  Constitution,  will  have  quite 
an  awakening  by  a  thirty  days  sojourn  in  Canada, 
where  it  will  be  manifest  to  him  that  under  a  different 
Constitution  the  Canadians  enjoy  all  the  blessings  of 
liberty  that  his  country  enjoys.  It  may  perhaps  filter 
into  his  consciousness  that  Constitutions  have  very 
little  to  do  with  liberty,  and  that  after  all  that  which 
in  these  days  has  become  to  most  Americans  a  fetish— 
that  is,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — has  had 
no  more  to  do  with  American  liberty  and  American 
progress  than  the  label  on  a  bottle  has  to  do  with  the 
virtue  of  the  ingredients  that  it  contains.  In  fact, 
like  the  label,  it  may  have  something  to  do  only  with 
the  directions  of  the  contents — nothing  more — nothing 
less.  It  is  the  people  who  make  the  Constitution  and 
preserve  the  Constitution — not  the  Constitution  that 
makes  and  preserves  the  people.  Had  the  American 
people,  in  the  beginning,  simply  adopted  the  Golden 
Rule  as  their  Constitution,  and  aimed  to  be  guided  as 
a  nation,  as  states,  and  as  individuals  by  that  prin- 
ciple, there  is  no  question  that  progress  would  have 

[80] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

been  as  marked,  and  liberty  as  abundant,  as  it  is  to- 
day. Does  any  man  think  that  if  the  people  of  Mex- 
ico were  given  the  American  Constitution  that  they 
would  be  one  whit  better  off?  Their  condition  would 
be  no  more  improved  than  to  present  a  blacksmith 
with  a  medical  diploma,  which  he  had  not  earned. 

The  German  came  to  this  country  for  precisely  the 
same  reasons  that  the  Canadian  came  here,  or  the 
American  went  to  northwestern  Canada.  It  was  not 
"liberty"  that  he  was  after — it  was  opportunity- 
opportunity  that  comes  as  a  result  of  natural  con- 
ditions— conditions  dependent  upon  the  gift  of  Provi- 
dence and  not  on  written  Constitutions.  He  felt  he 
could  produce  more  on  fifty  acres  of  rich,  virgin  Am- 
erican soil,  than  on  five  acres  of  overworked  German 
soil.  It  is  true  that  he  left  to  avoid  the  bane  of  Ger- 
many— militarism.  That  was  an  institution  that  he 
naturally  wished  to  avoid  for  his  children.  Although 
this  was  true,  all  intelligent  Germans  refused  to  blame 
their  rulers  for  that  condition,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  most  Germans  felt  the  necessity  of  extreme  mili- 
tary preparation  against  a  repetition  of  invasions 
that  so  often  in  the  past  had  almost  ruined  their  coun- 
try. They  granted  that  it  was  necessary  to  her  safety 
and  for  her  existence.  There  are  some  non-thinking 
people  who  will  not  agree  with  that  statement.  In 
order  to  appreciate  Germany's  position  (and  we  are 
speaking  of  Germany  prior  to  1914)  let  us  put  our- 
selves in  that  countries'  position.  Assume  that  all  the 
Germans  vacated  their  country  and  70,000,000  free- 
born,  peace-loving,  intelligent,  prosperous  American 
citizens,  together  with  their  divine  Constitution  and 
all  their  most  cherished  institutions,  should  take  pos- 

[81] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

session  of  Germany,  and  the  70,000,00  Germans, 
with  their  Kaiser  and  their  laws,  would  take  possession 
of  the  United  States.  Now,  this  will  be  a  test  of  in- 
stitutions. It  will  be  very  interesting  to  know  what 
would  happen  as  a  result  of  this  experiment.  In  the 
first  place  the  Americans  would  find  they  would  have 
as  a  new  eastern  neighbor,  instead  of  the  protecting 
Atlantic  Ocean,  a  haughty,  ambitious,  uncompromis- 
ing despot,  controlling  200,000,000  half  barbarians, 
who  had  heretofore  been  kept  in  check  at  the  mouth 
of  the  cannon  and  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  On 
her  west  she  would  have  40,000,000  of  an  armed,  and 
land-hungry  people.  We  will  not  even  mention  her 
danger  on  the  south.  Considering  this  situation  how 
long  before  these  70,000,000  Americans  now  occupy- 
ing Germany  would  come  to  the  conclusion  that  every 
man  must  carry  a  musket?  Not  long  indeed!  And 
does  anyone  imagine  for  a  moment  that  the  lot  of  the 
average  citizen  would  be  even  as  desirable  as  that  of 
his  German  predecessor.  With  the  extravagant  and 
slip-shod  methods  of  conducting  business  that  often 
marks  the  American  at  home,  if  continued  on  Ger- 
man soil,  would  in  all  liklihood  bring  disaster — Con- 
stitution or  no  Constitution. 

But  what  of  the  70,000,000  of  Germans  in  America, 
even  with  the  Kaiser  at  their  head?  With  all  the 
national  advantages  and  opportunities  here  would 
they  not  become  a  really  great  commercial  nation, 
as  they  aimed  to  be  in  Germany?  And  what  about 
militarism?  With  little  Canada  on  their  north  and 
impotent  Mexico  on  their  south,  how  long  do  you 
imagine  it  would  be  before  their  big  defensive  army 
would  fade  away  into  civilian  life? 

[82] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

We  must  always  remember  that  circumstances  alter 
cases;  and  that  often  credit  is  given  where  credit  is 
not  due ;  and  condemnation  is  founded  frequently  on 
ignorance  and  prejudice,  instead  of  justice  based  on 
facts. 

As  time  passed  and  the  war  progressed,  the  position 
of  the  Germans  in  America  became  more  delicate  and, 
to  a  greater  degree,  unbearable.  They  were  cut  off 
from  their  fatherland,  which  held  within  its  borders, 
in  many  instances,  their  own  flesh  and  blood.  They 
saw  that  America,  through  propaganda,  was  forced 
to  view  the  great  war  struggle  through  British  spec- 
tacles. They  naturally  became  exasperated  when 
they  beheld  American  factories  running  night  and 
day  to  supply  the  Entente  with  war  material  that 
was  destined  to  blow  into  eternity  those  that  were 
near  and  dear  to  them.  They  felt  that  America's 
claim  to  neutrality  was  both  hypocritical  and  un- 
christian. America  and  Germany  were  as  yet  at 
peace.  They  were  friends.  There  is,  of  course,  no 
question  in  the  mind  of  any  honest  man,  regarding 
the  depravity  of  one  who,for  gold,would  pass  a  dagger 
to  two  friends  who  were  engaged  in  a  death  struggle; 
and  justify  himself  by  claiming  that  he  gave  them  an 
equal  chance  for  its  possession,  when  he  knew  full 
well  that  one  of  them  was  in  such  a  physical  position 
in  the  struggle  that  he  could  not  reach  the  dagger — 
and  where  a  full  knowledge  existed  in  advance  of 
whose  heart  it  would  be  driven  into.  A  nation  is 
equally  depraved  and  cannot  be  called  Christian  that 
allows  its  citizens  to  wax  rich  from  a  traffic  which 
means  death  and  destruction  to  those  with  whom  she 
is  at  peace. 

[83] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

When  the  Germans  in  America  witnessed  this  one- 
sided procedure,  when  they  saw  the  press,  as  time  went 
on,  more  and  more  distorting  and  misrepresenting 
the  German  nation,  and  upholding  in  every  particu- 
lar the  aims  and  claims  of  her  enemies,  we  to-day,  on 
looking  back,  are  amazed  at  the  extreme  moderation 
of  these  people,  during  the  heart  and  soul-trying  days 
of  1914,  and  after. 

The  propagandist  found  nothing  so  potent  for 
poisoning  and  inflaming  the  American  mind  as  "atroc- 
ities". This  was  a  form  of  poison  that  could  be  in- 
jected into  the  national  circulatory  system  without 
detection.  The  dispenser  of  this  insiduous  form  of 
propaganda  could  employ  it  without  much  fear  of 
detection — he  could  inject  unadulterated  lies,  or  half 
lies  and  half  truths,  according  as  he  wished  a  specific 
result.  A  few  drops  of  this  virus,  skillfully  injected, 
would  madden  and  inflame  a  whole  community. 

The  fact  that  this  propaganda  was  manufactured 
at  this  particular  time  in  England  and  France  and 
sent  wholesale  here  did  not  seem  to  arouse  the  sus- 
picions of  the  American  people.  It  seemed  as  though 
they  desired  to  swallow  the  mixture,  without  question. 
They  did  not  seem  to  know  or  care  to  know,  that 
during  the  time  that  the  British  papers  were  filled 
with  stories  of  atrocities,  Premier  Asquith  made  a 
notable  reply  regarding  these  in  the  British  House  of 
Commons  in  the  following  language: 

"No  information  has  reached  the  Minister  of  War 
concerning  the  repeated  stories  that  German  soldiers 
had  abused  the  Red  Cross  flag;  killed  and  maimed 
the  wounded;  and  killed  women  and  children,  as  has 
been  alleged  so  often  in  stories  of  the  battle-fields." 

[84] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Here  is  the  Premier  of  Britain,  speaking  for  the  war 
office  that  had  all  access  to  the  front  and  even  behind 
the  lines,  giving  the  lie  to  the  stories  that  filled  the 
British  press,  and  were  fed  without  stint  or  limit  to 
the  American  people,  and  to  the  people  of  the  world. 
And  it  must  be  remembered  that  at  the  time,  the 
press  was  not  allowed  anywhere  near  the  front,  and 
could  not  get  first-hand  information. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  worst  stories  of 
atrocities  were  circulated  during  the  first  months  of 
the  war;  particularly  during  the  first  few  months 
after  Germany  occupied  Belgium  and  France.  Am- 
erica, not  being  at  war,  her  correspondents  were 
allowed  to  follow  the  German  armies.  "Current 
Opinion",  the  well  and  favorably  known  magazine 
calls  attention  to  the  whole  situation  in  the  following 
words: 

"From  the  beginning  of  the  present  war,  the  most 
harrowing  stories  of  atrocities  have  been  current.  But 
a  noteworthy  number  of  reports  have  been  coming  of 
late  from  the  American  correspondents  discrediting 
the  worst  of  these  stories  and  restoring,  in  a  measure, 
the  world's  faith  in  its  own  humanity." 

Joseph  O'Donnell  Bennet  of  the  Associated  Press, 
has  sent  a  long  and  detailed  statement  to  the  Chicago 
Tribune,  of  the  attempts  of  himself  and  four  Amer- 
ican correspondents,  to  run  down  stories  of  atrocities. 
He  says:  "I  marched  for  days  with  the  German 
columns,  often  only  one  day  behind  the  fighting,  with 
the  houses  that  had  been  burned  still  smouldering, 
the  ground  freshly  broken  by  shells  and  trampled  by 
horses  and  men,  and  the  memory  of  the  German  ad- 
vance vivid  in  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants.  I  inter- 

[85] 


THE  WAR  GULIT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

viewed  at  least  twenty  persons  in  each  of  a  dozen 
towns,  and  found  only  one  instance  of  a  non-combat- 
ant, who  had  been  killed  without  provocation.  In 
this  case  the  evidence  did  not  prove  that  this  man 
had  been  wantonly  murdered.  Neither  in  Brussels  or 
its  environs  could  we  find  on  diligent  inquiry,  a  single 
offense.  Investigation  failed  to  sustantiate  any  of 
the  rumors,  nor  could  we  find  any  one  in  the  immed- 
iate vicinity  who  credited  them.  We  have  seen  no 
atrocities,  we  can  get  proof  of  none." 

The  New  York  World  published  the  following  dis- 
patch from  a  special  correspondent  dated  September 
24th: 

"The  French,  English  and  Belgians  accuse  the  Ger- 
mans of  shocking  atrocities,  the  Germans  accusing 
the  English  , French  and  Belgians  of  equally  shocking 
acts  of  barbarism." 

"In  the  opinion  of  the  impartial  observer,  such  as 
I  am  endeavoring  to  be,  I  feel  that  eighty  percent  of 
these  accusations  are  not  true,  ten  percent  fearfully 
exaggerated,  and  ten  percent  true." 

A  round  robin  to  the  same  effect  was  signed  by 
such  men  as  Irving  S.  Cobb  of  the  Saturday  Evening 
Post;  Henry  Hansen  of  the  Chicago  Evening  News, 
Roger  Lewis  of  the  Associated  Press  and  John  T.Mc- 
Cutcheon  of  the  Chicago  Tribune. 

The  following  editorial  reflects  the  thoughts  of  sane 
people  regarding  the  question  of  atrocities  but  such 
wise  reflections  apparently  did  not  sink  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  Pro-Ally  partisan.  The  Emporia 
Gazette  has  this  to  say  editorially: 

"Did  the  civilized  world  think  anything  but  what 
it  is — a  miserable,  cowardly  carnival  of  blood-lust  and 

[86] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

worse  passions?  Of  course  they  will  shoot  nurses,  and 
worse  than  that;  of  course  they  will  burn  towns  and 
outrage  women.  Of  course  they  will  drop  bombs,  and 
let  their  devilish  passions  loose  upon  every  defenseless 
thing.  For  that  is  war.  The  Germans  are  not  worse 
than  the  rest  of  us.  When  we  go  the  limit,  the  limit 
is  bad,  and  war  is  the  everlasting  lust  of  humanity." 

It  was  a  notorious  fact  that  if  the  German  Com- 
mand sought  to  punish  the  civilian  population  either 
in  Belgium  or  France,  for  sniping  or  other  depreda- 
tions, they  were  immediately  attacked  by  the  press 
as  being  barbarians — never  making  allowance  for  the 
necessity  for  such  action.  It  will  be  admitted  that  in 
a  life  and  death  struggle  many  things  will  be  done 
that  will  cause  a  shudder  when  rehearsed  in  a  peace- 
ful gathering.  But  what  must  be  said  of  a  nation  of 
at  least  100,000,000  fighting  a  pygmy  of  a  quarter  of 
a  million  and  resorting  to  ruthless  warfare,  as  exhib- 
ited when  Britain  fought  the  little  Boer  Republic. 
For  ruthlessness  the  following  war  order  of  Lord 
Roberts  will  equal  anything  of  which  we  have  au- 
thentic knowledge: 

"When  any  attempt  has  been  made  to  destroy  a 
railroad  line,  all  the  farms  and  residences  within  a 
circumference  of  ten  miles  must  be  destroyed;  cattle 
and  all  provisions  taken  away  and  residents  driven 
away  without  food  and  shelter." 

Modern  warfare  has  discarded  poison  arrows;  but 
has  substituted  instead,  poison  gas  and  poison  propa- 
ganda. The  most  insidious,  the  most  deadly  and 
without  a  question  the  most  cowardly  method  of  war- 
fare is  modern  propaganda.  Poison  gas  often  brings 
instant  death  to  the  professional  fighters  on  the  battle- 

[87] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

field — and  ends  there;  but  poison  propoganda  does 
not  see  the  full  results  of  its  deadly,  venomous  and 
wicked  work  in  three  generations.  Bayonets  and 
bullets  maim  and  kill  human  flesh  on  the  field  of 
battle;  but  poison  propaganda  inflames  and  pollutes 
the  minds  and  consciences  of  men,  women  and  child- 
ren of  an  entire  nation. 

But  the  war  spirit  must  be  intensified,  Liberty  Bonds 
must  be  sold,  therefore  hate  must  be  kindled,  and 
what  more  prolific  breeder  of  hate  could  be  desired 
than  the  rehersal  of  atrocities,  the  maiming  and  kill- 
ing of  children,  and  above  all — the  lustful  assaults 
on  women. 

Many  lovers  of  their  kind,  felt  confident  that  should 
Europe's  feuds,  jealousies  and  hatreds  culminate  and 
burst  into  a  continent-wide  storm,  America,  owing  to 
her  isolation,  and  the  intelligence  and  discernment  of 
her  people,  could  be  relied  upon  to  balance  the  scales 
of  justice  as  between  the  warring  factions.  They  at 
least  were  expected  not  to  condemn  a  nation  unheard, 
or  on  evidence  submitted  by  its  enemies.  To  the 
amazement  of  all  those  who  love  justice  and  fair 
play  and  who  admired  national  sanity  and  poise,  they 
found  a  large  section  of  American  people  were  being 
influenced  by  blood  connection;  ready  to  believe  the 
most  horrible  stories  told  of  one  fighting  group,  and 
refusing  to  believe  even  the  possibility  of  the  other 
side  being  capable  of  acting  in  the  struggle  different 
to  what  would  be  expected  of  them  if  they  were  at 
church  or  in  a  drawing  room.  The  American  people 
were  not  without  examples  for  their  guidance.  They 
knew  that  neither  in  America  nor  anywhere  else  in  the 
world  were  Germans  considered  a  lustful  or  degen- 

[88] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

erate  people.  Then  why  should  the  war  produce 
more  depravity  in  the  German  than  in  the  Belgian, 
the  Englishman  or  the  Frenchman?  The  records  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  war  do  not  show  that  Germany 
was  accused  of  either  lust  or  unnecessary  cruelty; 
then  why  such  a  change  in  a  few  years  in  national 
character?  We  have  said  that  Germany  had  a  repu- 
tation the  world  over  for  the  high  virtues  of  her 
people.  But  what  of  Belgium  and  France?  In  the 
matter  of  atrocities,  Belgium  in  the  Congo  stands 
safely  next  to  Turkey  in  Armenia.  And  how  will  the 
national  morals  of  France  compare  with  Germany's 
France  with  her  salacious  art,  her  suggestive  litera- 
ture, her  un-nameable  hidden  and  disgusting  vices, 
and  her  carnival  of  race  murder— a  revolting  crime 
against  both  the  laws  of  man  and  God — race  murder 
which  depleted  her  of  her  manhood,which  nature  had 
intended  for  her  protection  in  time  of  need? 

Unmindful  of  these  and  other  conditions,  millions 
of  the  American  people  threw  reason  and  discern- 
ment to  the  winds  and  were  content  to  be  fed  on  vile 
concoctions  which  were  prepared  at  home  and  abroad 
by  diabolical  and  skillful  hands  which  were  rapidly 
rendering  Americans  an  easy  victim  for  the  com- 
ing sacrifice. 

These  unthinking  people  did  not  want  war,  but 
they  were  stupidly  playing  into  the  hands  of  a  leader 
or  leaders  who  did  want  war — and  yet  were 
preaching  peace.  The  time  had  not  yet  arrived  for 
those  who  talked  peace  with  their  lips  and  yet 
had  their  hearts  set  for  war,  to  declare  themselves. 
Never  in  all  history  did  a  leader  of  a  people  change 
so  suddenly  from  the  soft-tongued  angel  of  peace  to 

[891 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

the  War  God,  as  did  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of 
the  United  States.  Owing  to  the  American  people 
giving  credit  to  him  for  keeping  them  out  of  the  war, 
they  elected  him  to  another  term.  No  sooner  had  he 
secured  the  reigns  of  power  for  an  additional  four 
years,  than  he  tore  from  his  face  the  mask  of  peace, 
and  startled  America  beheld  the  grinning  and  cynical 
visage  of  the  God  of  War.  Never  were  the  people  of 
any  country  so  skillfully,  so  deliberately,  and  in  such 
cold  blood,  delivered  into  the  hands  of  one  man,  to  be 
used  at  will  and  for  his  own  ambitions,  and  who  be- 
came in  his  hands,  by  virtue  of  power  and  circum- 
stances, as  helpless  as  sheep  before  their  shearers,  as 
when  the  American  people  elected  Woodrow  Wilson 
their  president  for  a  second  term.  When  the  hour 
arrived  for  Woodrow  Wilson  to  act,  to  act  no  doubt 
in  accordance  with  the  plans  long  matured,  the  Am- 
erican people  were  as  helpless  to  stay  his  hand  as  the 
people  of  Germany  were  to  stay  the  hand  of  their 
Kaiser.  Hundreds  who  yet  languish  in  American 
prisons  can  testify  to  this  fact.  The  President  knew 
that  if  the  question  of  peace  or  war  were  left  to  the 
people,  that  peace  would  be  chosen  triumphantly. 
That  is  why  he  wore  the  garments  of  peace,  before 
they  elected  him.  But  now  that  he  had  full  control 
what  cared  he  for  the  people?  It  cannot  be  said  of 
Woodrow  Wilson  that  he  was  not  ambitious.  No 
man  could  reach  the  head  of  a  great  university,  the 
governorship  of  a  great  state,  or  the  presidency  of 
the  United  States  without  being  impelled  by  am- 
bition. He  saw  vividly  a  great  world  drama  being 
enacted — the  greatest  drama  of  all  time — the  chief 
actors  of  which  would  go  down  in  history,  through  all 

[90] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

the  ages  to  come.  In  view  of  this,  was  he  going  to 
remain  an  auditor,  or  be  content  to  stand  in  the  wings 
where  the  audience  could  get  an  occasional  glimpse 
of  him,  or  even  play  the  modest  and  unheroic  part  of 
peace-maker? 

On  the  contrary,  was  he  not  in  a  position  to  jump 
on  the  stage,  seize  the  villain  and  cast  him  into 
outer  darkness,  and  then  restore  the  stolen  jewels  to 
our  lady  fair,  bring  about  peace  and  order,  and  then 
take  a  position  in  the  center  of  the  stage  before  the 
footlights  and  hear  the  acclaim  of  a  world  audience 
with  all  the  assurance  that  his  name  would  echo  for- 
ever down  the  corridors  of  time? 

That  indeed  was  a  very  ambitious  dream;  but 
Woodrow  Wilson  was  not  the  first  man  whose  dreams 
turned  from  pleasant  and  ambitious  excursions  into 
a  horrible  nightmare. 

Mr.  Wilson  knew  full  well  the  arbitrary  and  almost 
despotic  power  with  which  he  was  vested;  and  that 
for  another  period  of  four  years.  He  knew  Congress 
and  he  knew  his  people.  It  is  true  that  he  realized 
that  the  majority  of  the  people,  although  holding 
strong  opinions,  were  not  in  favor  of  war;  but  he 
knew  that  the  press  was  with  him,  the  ultra-patriots, 
and  the  noisy  flag-wavers,  and  the  hordes  of  greed  and 
graft  (fifteen  thousand  of  whom  since  have  become 
millionaires),  and  he  was  taught  the  lesson  by  the 
European  nations  that  once  war  is  declared  and  the 
national  honor  is  at  stake,  and  the  bands  begin  play- 
ing and  patriotic  hymns  are  being  sung,  and  the  flags 
are  set  to  the  breeze — opposition  will  die  away  and  any 
protest  will  be  smothered  in  the  roar  of  noisy  applause. 
If  Congress  should  balk,  he  knew  what  spurs  he  could 

[91] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

use  on  their  haunches;  and  if  unmanageable — how  they 
could  be  curbed.  Never  did  a  European  despot  sit  on 
his  throne  with  more  confidence  in  being  able  to  carry 
out  his  own  individual  will,  in  spite  of  parliaments 
or  peoples,  than  Woodrow  Wilson  in  1916.  He 
carried  into  the  White  House  the  petty  despotism  of 
the  schoolroom.  Long  before  he  even  dreamed  of 
the  presidency  he  was  a  sincere  believer  in  one-man 
authority.  He  came  to  the  conclusion,  no  doubt, 
that  if,  for  instance,  the  president  knew  more  than 
any  senator  or  congressman,  or  more  than  any  in- 
dividual in  the  country,  that  he  should  be  the  logical 
man  and  the  most  desirable  man  to  make  the  laws 
for  the  people.  Then  why  the  necessity  of  an  ex- 
pensive and  troublesome  Congress  or  Senate?  In  this 
he  was  like  the  youth  who  spent  his  first  day  as 
assistant  in  a  drug  store.  In  looking  over  the  stock 
he  came  across  a  bottle  of  patent  medicine.  The 
label  set  forth  that  the  remedy  cured  every  disease 
known  to  suffering  humanity.  The  boy  was  per- 
plexed. In  his  delemma  he  asked  the  proprietor  why 
it  was  necessary  to  keep  the  thousands  and  one  other 
drugs  in  stock,  when  he  had  one  medicine  that  would 
do  the  work  of  all. 

Mr.  Wilson's  opinions  as  far  back  as  1898  were  a 
forecast  of  that  contempt  which  he  had  since  shown 
for  that  approach  to  a  representative  government 
which  we  have  here  in  America,  namely — Congress. 
Mr  Wilson  at  that  time  was  quite  a  sincere  admirer 
of  Bagehot,  the  English  wit  and  critic.  Bagehot  re- 
marked: "A  good  horse  likes  to  feel  the  rider's  bit; 
and  a  great  deliberate  assembly  likes  to  feel  that  it  is 
under  worthy  guidance.  A  great  assembly  is  as  soon 

[92] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

spoiled  by  over-indulgence  as  a  little  child."  "These," 
remarks  Mr.  Wilson,  "are  eminently  businesslike  sen- 
tences." It  certainly  must  be  flattering  to  Congress 
to  know  that  unless  under  the  firm  guidance  and 
discipline  of  the  President,  they  will  become  like 
spoiled  children.  That  certainly  is  the  mind  of  the 
schoolmaster — and  it  is  a  far  stretch  from  the  school- 
room to  the  White  House. 

The  partisans  of  a  Republican  form  of  government, 
particularly  those  who  were  possessed  of  the  con- 
viction that  a  republic  is  Heaven-born,  and  any  mod- 
ification of  which  would  be  both  sacrilege  and  treason, 
must  have  at  least  been  disturbed,  if  not  distressed, 
on  observing  America's  entry  into  the  great  war. 

It  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  state  that  the  American 
people  had  no  say,  nor  were  they  consulted  in  any 
greater  regard  in  this  very  serious  business  than  the 
peoples  of  either  Russia  or  Germany. 

The  form  of  government  in  this  country,  as  at 
present  constituted,  in  many  respects  is  as  autocratic 
and  as  unresponsive  to  the  will  of  the  people  as  was 
the  government  of  Germany  prior  to  1914;  the  only 
difference  being  that  the  American  people,  once  in 
two  or  four  years,  have  the  privilege  of  changing 
their  taskmasters.  King  Democrat  or  Ex-King  Re- 
publican is  after  all  the  only  choice  of  the  people. 

The  independent  pretender,  usually  owing  to  con- 
ditions, has  very  little  chance  for  theAmerican  throne. 

That  President  Wilson  acted  upon  his  own  judg- 
ment, independent  of  his  people,  and  without  con- 
sulting them,  in  deciding  for  war,  cannot  be  gainsaid. 

That  the  American  people,  once  they  had  given 
the  reins  of  power  to  their  executive  were  as  helpless 

[93] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

and  impotent  to  curb  their  ruler  as  the  people  of 
Germany  were  impotent  against  the  will  of  their 
Kaiser.  If  his  judgment  were  good,  the  people  would 
benefit,  and  if  bad,  the  people  would  suffer;  substan- 
tially as  in  Germany,  and  in  Germany  exactly  as  in 
America.  Not  one  of  the  peoples  of  Europe,  had  they 
been  consulted  by  referendum,  would  have  declared 
for  war — it  was  a  war  of  the  leaders,  not  of  the  peoples. 
Had  the  American  people  been  consulted  as  in  a  dem- 
ocracy, they  would  have  given  even  more  of  an  em- 
phatic verdict  against  war.  And  no  one  knew  that 
fact  better  than  President  Wilson.  That  is  the  prin- 
cipal reason  that  he  waited  for  a  second  term  of  office 
before  declaring  war. 

He  knew  that  the  people  of  Britain  did  not  want 
war,  or  the  people  of  Germany,  or  France,  but  he 
observed  that  once  their  leaders  had  declared  for  war, 
and  the  poisons  of  hate  skillfully  let  loose,  and  the 
War  God  enthroned,  that  millions  instantly  stood 
ready  to  make  supreme  sacrifices  on  the  cruel  and 
bloody  altar  of  pagan  patriotism. 

Europe  had  set  up  her  altars  for  a  blood  sacrifice, 
and  the  high  priests  of  the  Entente,  especially,  re- 
fused to  believe,  in  order  to  further  their  own  ends, 
that  there  was  any  salvation  for  the  peoples,  except 
through  the  shedding  of  human  blood.  Their  eyes 
were  blind  and  their  ears  were  deaf  to  compromise, 
rapproachement  or  reconciliation. 

The  high  priest  of  America  shared  in  that  belief, 
and  in  support  thereof  set  up  an  altar  for  an  Ameri- 
can blood  sacrifice.  Instead  of  acting  the  part  of  the 
world's  greatest  mediator,  he  chose  to  be  his  coun- 
try's greatest  sacrificer.  Instead  of  using  his  office 

[94] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

and  position  in  the  spirit  of  fairness,  impartiality,  and 
Christian  charity  and  forbearance,  he  became  an  un- 
compromising partisan  of  one  group  against  the  other. 
His  own  conscience,  his  heart  and  his  brain  told  him 
that  the  issues  between  the  warring  nations  were  not 
clean-cut,  they  were  not  one-sided,  that  each  was 
guilty.  He  knew  the  particular  disease  that  was 
convulsing  each  and  all  of  them. 

In  the  face  of  this  he  committed,  without  stint  or 
limit,  and  with  but  nebulous  reservations,  the  blood 
and  treasure  of  America;  in  common  cause  with  des- 
potic and  barbarous  Russia,  revengeful  and  degen- 
erate France,  cruel  and  pagan  Japan,  and  designing 
and  envious  Britain.  These  were  the  noble  associates  of 
America.  It  certainly  was  like  a  Don  Quixote  going  forth 
in  the  company  of  a  band  of  angels  to  slay  the  dragon. 

Woodrow  Wilson  knew  intimately  the  character  of 
each  of  the  belligerents.  He  knew  what  animated 
them  in  the  past,  and  he  was  not  blind  to  each  of  their 
hidden  aims  and  objects  in  the  great  war.  He  had  no 
misgivings  as  to  which  way  Russia  was  heading;  the 
prize  France  was  after;  and  Britain's  hidden  expect- 
tations.  His  sense  of  fairness  in  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle  told  him  that  the  interests  of  the  world 
would  be  best  served  by  "peace  without  victory". 
This  exalted,  if  not  inspired  declaration,  was  made 
early  in  the  struggle;  when  all  the  main  facts  were 
fresh  and  obtainable.  They  were  certainly  made  with 
a  full  belief  that  no  belligerent  was  guilty,  or  all  were 
guilty.  There  is  no  question  but  that  he  deemed 
them  all  guilty;  and  their  guilt  only  a  question  of 
degree.  At  any  rate,  at  that  time,  he  apparently  did 
not  share  the  belief  that  any  fighting  group  in  Europe, 

[95] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

at  least,  was  wise  enough,  good  enough,  and  just 
enough  to  be  allowed  to  completely  crush  another 
great  group  and  impose  their  will  completely  on  the 
other.  Considering  the  ambitions  of  the  German 
ruling  class,  and  their  belief  that  Might  makes 
Right  had  been  proven  against  them,  coupled  with  a 
full  knowledge  of  the  history  and  ideals  or  lack  of 
ideals  of  the  nations  of  the  Entente,  he  was  justified 
in  believing  even  then,  that  peace  by  victory  was 
unthinkable  and  would  surely  sow  the  seed  for 
another  struggle  and  would  usher  in  a  period  of  uni- 
versal hate,  of  which  France  was  but  an  isolated  ex- 
ample. He  felt,  no  doubt,  like  the  just  judge  who 
listened  to  the  case  of  two  neighbors,  both  of  whom 
were  in  the  wrong,  unreasoning  and  unreasonable, 
and  who  after  reviewing  the  evidence  gave  them  both 
a  lecture  on  manners  and  conduct,  and  ordered  each 
to  pay  his  own  costs. 

These  were  Mr.  Wilson's  impulses  as  he  viewed 
the  struggle  in  its  early  stages.  When  one  beholds 
to-day  the  terrible  results  manifest  on  every  hand  of 
Peace  by  Victory — Peace  by  complete  physical  dom- 
ination of  practically  half  the  civilized  world  over  the 
other  half,  resulting  in  universal  anarchy  and  ruin 
the  wide-world  over,  and  as  one  witnesses  the  depths 
of  degradation  into  which  the  world  has  fallen  as  the 
result  of  this  "Victory",  we  can  well  imagine  future 
historians  writing  into  history,  Woodrow  Wilson  as 
the  most  tragic  and  colossal  failure,  considering  his 
opportunities,  of  all  time.  It  will  be  recorded  that 
he  let  fall  from  his  nerveless  grasp  the  sword  with 
which  he  could  have  cut  the  cords  that  were  binding 
the  nations  of  Europe  in  a  hopeless,  struggling,  and 

[96] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

of  themselves — inextricable  mass.  The  power  was 
given  him  to  sever  these  bands,  separate  the  writh- 
ing mass,  tell  each  the  plain  truth  about  themsalvas, 
lay  down  the  basis  for  a  just  settlement,  and  if  this 
were  not  acceptable  to  one  group  and  acquiesced  in 
by  the  other,  join  with  the  reasonable  group,  or  in  the 
event  both  refusing  these  good  offices,  have  America 
cut  off  communications  entirely  with  both  groups  and 
leave  them  to  their  own  self-imposed  destruction. 

During  the  course  of  the  war  there  were  many  psy- 
chological opportunities  for  a  whole-hearted,  fair- 
minded,  and  impartial  injection  of  the  good  offices  of 
America  in  the  struggle.  Instead  of  taking  the  trans- 
cendent question  up  in  a  businesslike,  let  alone  states- 
manlike way,  Mr.  Wilson  raised  not  even  a  hand  to 
stop  those  actions  of  his  countrymen  which  created 
suspicions  of  America  in  Germany  and  gave  corre- 
sponding encouragement  to  the  Entente  group.  He 
allowed  his  countrymen  to  wax  rich  as  a  result  of 
Europe's  misfortunes;  thereby  creating  a  premium 
for  the  continuance  of  the  war  indefinitely.  He  em- 
ployed his  precious  time  in  blowing  meaningless  word 
bubbles  and  watching  them  rise  and  float  into  thin 
air,  before  an  admiring  audience  that  applauded  his 
acrobatic  and  nice  use  of  words  and  phrases,  which 
were  as  meaningless  as  they  were  impotent.  When 
he  theorized  he  was  indefinite:  when  he  was  definite 
he  was  one-sided  and  brutally  partisan. 

Great  Britain  announced  early  that  she  would  be 
content  with  nothing  less  than  a  complete  physical 
victory  over  Germany.  This  was  both  characteristic 
and  probable.  With  her  powerful  allies,  and  world 
resources  at  her  command,  she  was  going  to  see  to  it, 

[97] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

no  matter  who  else  would  suffer,  that  this  long- 
looked  for  opportunity  of  crushing  her  manace  and 
rival,  would  be  turned  to  the  best  possible  account. 
She  did  not  therefore  like  Wilson's  early  formula, 
"peace  without  victory";  but  as  to  this  she  was  soon 
put  at  ease.  She  soon  discovered  that  this  was  but  a 
fragile  and  evanescent  dream  of  the  schoolmaster— 
the  statesman  reverting  momentarily  to  a  simpler 
type. 

Britain  began  to  understand  the  Wilson  mind. 
They  saw  a  peculiar  combination  of  schoolmaster, 
preacher,  politician  and  statesman.  They  beheld 
neither  an  entity  nor  an  non-entity,  but  a  peculiar 
mixture  of  softness  and  hardness,  firmness  and  flex- 
ibility. They  discovered,  for  instance,  that  he  was 
so  physically  and  mentally  constituted  that  he  would 
be  liable  to  make  more  noise  and  fuss  in  having  the 
tips  of  his  toes  trampled  upon,  than  in  having  his  leg 
taken  off.  They  came  to  understand  that  he  had  a 
very  wide  vision,  but  that  his  peculiarity  lay  in  the 
fact  that  he  could  see  only  one  object  at  a  time;  and 
when  star-gazing,  he  was  liable  to  be  thrown  on  all- 
fours,  by  a  trivial  object  at  his  feet. 

When  President  Wilson  dropped  his  formula  "peace 
without  victory",  and  substituted  "make  the  world 
safe  for  democracy",  casting  at  the  same  time  a  look 
of  disdain  at  Germany,  and  one  of  approval  and  com- 
placency on  those  heroic  defenders  of  democracy- 
Russia,  despot  and  barbarian;  Japan,  the  pagan;  and 
France,  late  of  the  Dreyfus  fame — there  certainly  was 
injected  into  the  whole  sad  war  business  the  first  act 
of  real  comedy — a  species  of  humor  that  even  the 
stolid  Englishman  could  appreciate,  admire  and  enjoy. 

[98] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

In  the  early  months  of  the  struggle  there  were  two 
propositions  put  forth  for  ending  the  war — one  by 
America,  the  greatest  of  the  neutrals,  and  the  other 
by  Great  Britain,  one  of  the  leading  participants. 

These  propositions  were  as  wide  apart  as  the 
shores  of  the  ocean  that  lay  between  the  two  nations 
presenting  them.  Mr.  Wilson  spoke  truly  for 
America,  and  registered  the  best  thought  of  man- 
kind when,  in  expressing  his  opinion,  he  used 
the  most  lofty  phrase  perhaps  ever  employed 
by  a  statesman— "peace  without  victory".  He  did 
not  ask  the  warring  nations  to  compromise  their  dif- 
ferences. There  was  nothing  to  compromise.  There 
were  no  principles  involved.  The  war  had  started,  to 
all  appearance,  by  reason  of  two  great  nations,  each 
coming  to  the  assistance  of  a  neighbor  and  friend. 
Russia  made  a  move  to  protect  Servia — Germany 
stepped  in  to  protect  Austria;  France  and  England 
sided  with  their  partner  and  friend,  Russia.  It  began 
with  a  local  fight  between  two  neighbors  and  it  grew 
to  immense  proportions;  through  the  attractive  force 
of  sympathy,  if  not  self-interest.  There  were  no  prin- 
ciples involved.  There  were  no  questions  agitating 
these  peoples  that  had  to  be  solved.  There  were  no 
controversies  between  the  nations.  But  a  day  before 
the  struggle  began  all  was  as  peaceful  as  at  any  period 
during  the  preceding  twenty-five  years.  Considering 
these  facts,  Wilson  no  doubt  felt  that  there  was  noth- 
ing to  compromise — that  the  only  thing  for  them  to 
do  was  to  quit  fighting  and  resume  their  former  peace- 
ful relations.  No  opposition  to  this  formula  came 
from  Germany;  for  she,  though  it  may  have  been 
hypocritical,  claimed  that  she  was  simply  protecting 

[99] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

an  ally  and  defending  the  fatherland.  It  remained 
for  Great  Britain,  as  head  of  the  Entente,  to  brush 
Mr.  Wilson's  proposition  aside  and  announce  anew 
her  war  aims  which  consisted  in  the  monstrous  dec- 
laration that  the  war  would  be  waged  on  her  part 
until  Germany  and  her  allies  were  crushed;  in  other 
words,  that  Britain  and  her  associates  intended  to 
obtain  complete  physical  victory  over  their  opponents. 

Had  it  been  a  case  of  principle,  of  conscience,  of 
humanity,  of  unselfishness,  or  disinterestedness  and 
of  high  ideals,  coupled  with  humility  and  an  un- 
blemished past  record,  as  against  a  record  of  years  of 
proven  international  crime  on  the  part  of  one  now  en- 
gaged in  a  repetition  of  these  crimes,  then  such  war 
aims  as  set  forth  by  Britain  could ,  in  the  sight  of  men, 
at  least  be  justified.  But  with  a  question  of  Ger- 
many's guilt  for  starting  the  war  in  doubt,  even  sin- 
cerely questioned  by  prominent  Britons,  as  well  as 
neutrals,  with  the  further  knowledge  that  to  compare 
the  previous  war  crimes  of  Germany  and  Britain,  if 
we  take  the  record  for  the  past  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  would  be  like  comparing  the  purity  of  a  moun- 
tain stream  with  the  dirty  waters  of  the  Ganges, 
would  make  Britain's  claims  and  aims  preposterous. 

A  purely  physical  victory  such  as  this  meant  the 
exaltation  of  might;  a  decision  in  strict  accordance 
and  after  the  fashion  of  the  brutality  of  ages,  the 
arbitrament  of  the  caveman.  A  victory  such  as  this, 
under  the  circumstances,  was  monstrous  in  its  con- 
ception, brutal  in  its  execution,  and  accursed  in  its 
results. 

Here  we  find  Britain  setting  herself  up  as  both 
plaintiff,  judge  and  executioner.  Judge  between  Rus- 

[100] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

sia  and  Germany;  France  and  Germany;  and  herself 
and  Germany;  excluding  all  favorable  and  extenuat- 
ing testimony  for  her  opponent,  whitewashing  and 
exalting  her  associates,  and  binding  them  by  bribes, 
promises  and  threats,  in  an  agreement,  to  stick  to- 
gether until  each  obtained  what  his  heart  craved,  and 
the  enemy  beaten  into  the  dust. 

In  the  face  of  this  decision,  proclaimed  from  the 
house-tops,  there  was  nothing  left  for  Germany  to  do 
but  to  abjectly  surrender  or  fight  to  a  finish. 

No  one  better  knew  what  this  meant  than  Pres- 
ident Wilson.  He  knew  that  if  such  an  uncompro- 
mising and  bloody  program  was  carried  out,  it  would 
mean  the  wreck  of  Europe;  and  yet  he  was  the  man 
who  held  the  key  to  the  whole  situation. 

In  order  to  carry  out  this  gruesome  enterprise, 
Britain  required  American  food,  clothing,  and  war 
materials.  In  addition  to  this  she  must  be  allowed 
to  undermine  the  strength  of  Germany  by  starvation. 
A  failure  of  either  of  these  plans  rendered  a  complete 
victory  impossible. 

Had  the  hope  of  a  complete  physical  victory  been 
removed  from  Britain's  possibilities,  and  a  draw  the 
only  probable  outcome  remaining,  there  is  no  question 
but  that  her  leaders  would  have  preferred  a  termin- 
ation of  hostilities,  at  the  first  psychological  oppor- 
tunity, on  the  basis  of  peace  without  advantage  to 
either  side. 

If  Mr.  Wilson  had  stood  by  his  first  impulse  and 
insisted,  in-so-far  as  America  was  concerned,  that 
peace  should  come  without  victory,  he  certainly  was 
in  a  position  to  force  reason  on  Britain,  by  cutting 
off  all  supplies  to  the  warring  factions. 

[101] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

It  must  be  admitted  that  owing  to  the  racial  com- 
plexion of  America,  Mr.  Wilson's  position,  to  a 
marked  degree,  was  difficult.  As  has  been  stated,  the 
natural  sympathy,  at  least  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
contest,  was  not  strong  enough  to  influence  five  per- 
cent of  Americans  to  intervene  in  behalf  of  Britain 
and  her  allies.  Had  the  merits  of  the  controversy 
between  the  contending  parties  in  Europe,  from  a 
standpoint  of  right  and  justice,  been  equal  or  even 
somewhat  in  favor  of  Germany,  America,  if  com- 
pelled to  take  sides,  would  have  without  question 
joined  the  Entente. 

Even  though  America  sympathized  with  the  En- 
tente and  profited  by  the  war,  it  is  only  fair  to  say 
that  the  majority  of  the  people  would  not  knowingly 
do  Germany  an  injustice,  or  would  they  have  the  war 
continue  one  day  longer  than  necessary,  even  though 
the  nation  made  billions  as  a  result  of  it.  They  de- 
sired world  peace,  even  at  the  expense  of  unheard-of 
profits.  Notwithstanding  this,  Mr.  Wilson's  position 
was  both  delicate  and  difficult.  He  knew  he  might 
favor  the  Entente  without  creating  much  opposition, 
aside  from  the  German  element,  but  he  dare  not,  even 
in  the  remotest  way,  appear  to  favor  Germany. 

It  would  be  difficult  indeed,  to  imagine  what  con- 
ditions could  induce  America  to  go  in  the  war  on  the 
side  of  Germany,  but  no  imagination  would  be  nec- 
essary to  conceive  how  easy  it  would  be  to  bring  Am- 
erica in  on  the  side  of  the  Entente.  But  America, 
nevertheless,  was  as  yet  not  beyond  the  power  of 
discrimination.  For  instance,  if  Mr.  Wilson  had  made 
it  plain  to  the  American  people  that  peace  without 
victory  was  the  one  thing  desirable,  that  the  war 

[102] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

should  end  with  no  advantage  to  either  belligerent, 
excepting  indemnity  to  Belgium;  that  he  conceived 
that  each  side  was  more  or  less  to  blame;  that  Brit- 
ain's slogan  "Peace  by  Victory"  would  mean  Europe's 
ruin,  (as  it  has) ;  that  Germany  stood  ready  to  disarm 
on  fair  terms,  and  in  order  to  bring  this  about,  and 
in  order  to  bring  Britain  to  her  senses,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  cut  off  the  supplies  of  food,  clothing  and 
war  material  from  the  Entente,America  would  have, 
with  the  exception  of  the  war  profiteers  and  yellow 
newspapers,  willingly  and  cheerfully  acquiesced.  This 
was  the  key  Mr.  Wilson  held  to  the  war  situation.  It 
would  have  unlocked,  without  forcing,  the  door  to 
peace.  One  month  of  such  treatment  as  this  would 
have  brought  haughty  Britain  both  to  her  knees  and 
to  her  senses. 

There  were  several  periods,  during  the  course  of 
the  struggle,  even  within  a  few  months  of  its  incep- 
tion, that  the  lock  stood  ready  for  the  key.  Key  in 
hand,  Mr.  Wilson  stood  hesitating,  while  millions  of 
mortals  were  being  driven,  like  helpless  cattle,  to  the 
slaughter. 

Starvation  is  ruthless  warfare,  even  when  confined 
to  a  belligerent  garrison,  but  who  can  measure  the 
atrocious  villainy  of  an  attempt,  in  order  to  win 
physical  supremacy,  of  the  starving  of  the  men, 
women  and  children  of  an  entire  nation? 

Can  any  mortal  even  calculate  the  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  infants  who  went  to  their  graves 
more  cruelly,  and  with  more  certainty  than  if  they 
had  been  within  the  range  of  the  infernal  British 
guns,  than  those  countless  innocent  children  of 
Germany? 

[103] 


THE  WAR  GULIT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

There  never  was  a  cause  so  just,  since  men  came 
on  the  earth,  that  required  such  fiendish  means  to 
establish  it,  as  the  wholesale  starving  of  innocent 
women  and  children,  of  a  village,  much  less  an  entire 
nation. 

Upon  looking  behind  the  scenes  in  Germany  to-day 
and  observing  the  horrible  results  of  the  gradual  star- 
vation of  one  entire  nation  by  another — the  thou- 
sands of  starving  infants  vainly  striving  to  extract 
sustenance  from  the  emaciated  and  impoverished 
breasts  of  mothers — mothers  who  were  refusing  food 
that  they  sorely  needed  in  order  that  seed  might  be 
sown  for  another  harvest — old  men  dropping  by  the 
wayside,  ending  life  so  that  their  offsprings  might  live, 
dying  as  surely  by  this  act  of  war  of  the  enemy,  as 
soldiers  in  battle,  and  then  profrane  if  you  will,  the 
name  of  Christ  by  calling  this  Christian  warfare,  or 
the  nation  Christian  that  is  so  incarnate  a  fiend  as  to 
employ  it.  It  is  in  deed  and  truth  the  crowning  in- 
famy of  war,  a  nation  turning  savage,  multiplying 
the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta  ten  thousand  times. 

This  was  the  method  of  warfare  that  Britain  had 
to  employ,  if  she  hoped,  even  by  years  of  effort,  to 
obtain  peace  by  victory. 

But  never  in  the  histroy  of  mankind  was  retribu- 
tion so  swift,  so  appalling,  and  so  deserved  as  that 
which  found  expression  in  the  submarine,  by  which 
Germany,  through  what  almost  might  appear  a 
gift  of  Providence,  was  placed  in  a  position,  barring 
outside  interference,  to  break  asunder  the  ever-tight- 
ening chains  that  were  slowly,  but  surely,  crushing 
out  the  lives  of  non-combatant  men,  women  and 
children  of  Germany.  Britain's  was  a  crime  against 

[104] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

humanity;  cruel,  merciless  and  monstrous;  and  Ger- 
many's answer,  terrible  though  it  was,  must  be  justi- 
fied in  that,  "necessity  knows  no  law." 

When  Great  Britain  first  adopted  the  starvation 
method  for  humbling  her  enemy,  America,  although 
profiting  from  the  war  and  sympathizing  generally 
with  Britain,  was  compelled,  both  as  a  matter  of 
business  and  of  conscience,  to  protest  against  Brit- 
ain's inhumanity.  It  will  be  of  interest  now  to  ex- 
amine a  fragment  of  the  protest  that  was  made  against 
that  inhuman  method  of  warfare. 

The  Literary  Digest,  March  13th,  1915: 

"Continued  protest  against  invasion  of  our  rights 
by  any  of  the  belligerents  and  continued  effort  to 
bring  about  an  understanding  between  England  and 
Germany,  which  will  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  neu- 
tral commerce,  are  urged  by  many  American  editors 
in  the  situation  produced  by  the  starvation  decree 
issued  by  the  two  chief  belligerents  in  Europe.  In 
official  circles  in  Washington,  there  is  a  feeling  as 
reflected  by  the  correspondents,  that  "it  will  be  im- 
possible to  induce  Great  Britain  to  make  any  material 
changes  in  her  plans  she  has  announced  in  starving 
Germany."  "Germany's  doom  is  sealed;  we  will 
starve  her  out,"  says  the  French  Minister  of  Marine." 

The  New  York  World: 

"A  blockade  is  a  very  definite  thing  but  to  notify 
the  world  in  general  terms  that  commerce  with  Ger- 
many is  forbidden,  without  declaring  a  blockade  and 
accepting  its  responsibilities,  amounts  to  a  declara- 
tion that  neutrals  as  well  as  belligerents  are  involved 
in  war.  If  German  submarine  warfare  is  piracy,  this 
lawless  British  warfare  also  is  piracy." 

[1053 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

The  New  York  Evening  Post: 

"Such  a  frank  repudiation  of  international  law  and 
of  a  treaty  will  go  far  to  rob  England  of  the  moral 
superiority  which  she  appears  to  have  had  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war." 

The  New  York  Globe: 

"If  neutral  countries  do  not  lay  embargoes  on  their 
commerce  with  Germany  ,as  the  Allies  prescribe,  then 
the  Allies  are  to  enforce  what  appears  to  be  a  blockade 
against  these  neutral  countries." 

The  Washington  Post: 

"The  effect  of  the  new  law  will  be  to  drive  off  the 
ocean  all  commerce  except  commerce  with  the  Allies. 
Our  duty  is  to  make  such  a  determined  protest  to 
England  as  shall  be  heeded.  This  protest  shall  take 
the  form  of  an  ultimatum,  or  it  may  actually  result 
in  war.  But  even  that  is  preferable  to  being  dragged 
into  war  on  account  of  our  cowardly  failure  to  en- 
force our  neutrality." 

The  Post,  later  on,  asks:  "Would  the  German  Gov- 
ernment take  pains  to  feed  the  prisoners  of  war,  first, 
while  Germans  themselves  were  starving?"  And  adds: 
"In  a  short  time  it  will  become  apparent  that  Great 
Britain  had  made  a  gigantic  blunder  by  thus  antagon- 
izing the  peaceful  nations  of  the  world.  Her  plan 
is  unworkable  for  two  reasons;  first,  the  Allies  will 
not  permit  their  soldiers  in  Germany  to  be  starved, 
which  would  be  necessary  and  inevitable  if  Britain's 
blockade  would  be  effective;  and  secondly,  the  neu- 
tral nations  of  the  world  will  not  permit  their  com- 
merce to  be  destroyed.  They  will  go  to  war  against 
Great  Britain,  if  nothing  short  of  war  will  break  her 
grip  on  the  ocean." 

[106] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

The  Literary  Digest  in  taking  note  of  public  opin- 
ion in  the  United  States,  on  March  20th,  1915  says: 
"Indignant  denunciation  is  pouring  in  on  Britain's 
long-range  blockade  of  Germany.  Editorial  observers 
call  it  an  indefensible  misuse  of  sea  power,  inter- 
national bullying,  and  a  new  form  of  piracy." 

Boston  Globe: 

"England  imposes  her  decree  by  no  right,  except 
the  right  of  might". 

Pittsburgh  Leader: 

"The  right  sort  of  reprisal  would  be  to  stop  ship- 
ments of  all  kinds  from  the  United  States,  which 
would  put  an  end  to  the  war  in  a  way  that  perhaps 
some  folk  in  Europe  have  not  figured  on." 

New  York  Morning  Telegraph: 

"Count  Bernstorf  has  a  right  to  ask  United  States 
to  obey  the  spirit  of  neutrality  and  cease  selling  pow- 
der and  balls  and  cannon  to  Great  Britain  while  it 
would  not  send  food  to  Germany.  Does  any  man  of 
sense  need  to  be  told  that  Bernstorf,  when  he  filed 
his  note  of  protest,  did  not  act  within  his  rights.  On 
the  face  of  it,  though  claiming  to  be  neutral,  we  are 
favoring  the  Allies,  as  Count  Bernstorf  asserts." 

The  sentiment,  as  reflected  in  the  above  editorials, 
although  pointing  the  way  in  which  their  President 
might  proceed,  shows  clearly  that  America  was  more 
bent  on  her  own  material  interests  being  conserved 
than  the  protection  of  innocent  women  and  children 
of  Germany  against  the  inevitable  results  of  barbaric 
piracy.  In  America's  indignant  protests  against  the 
lawlessness  of  Britain,  in  this  instance,  we  cannot  find 
any  more  evidence  or  traces  in  the  dictates  of  human- 
ity, aside  from  self-interest,  than  when  subsequently 

[1071 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

she  resorted  to  war,  as  the  result  of  the  destruction 
of  her  commerce  by  German  submarines. 

Had  America  been  strictly  neutral,  in  thought  as 
well  as  in  act,  she  would  have  seen  unmistakably, 
that  Germany's  lawless  submarine  warfare  came  as  a 
direct  result  of  Britain's  lawless  misuse  of  sea  power- 
lawlessness  employed  in  order  to  overcome  a  form  or 
lawlessness  which  had  for  its  object  the  destruction 
of  millions  of  innocent  non-combatants ;  and  not  com- 
mitted for  the  purpose  of  affronting  the  American 
people. 

To  the  protests  of  America,  Britain  turned  a  deaf 
ear.  She  announced  emphatically,  that  her  piracy 
would  go  on.  America,  therefore,  was  placed  in  a 
position  where  she  had  to  go  to  war  to  maintain  her 
neutral  rights — or  accept  the  conditions  as  laid  down 
by  England,  as  a  lesser  of  two  evils.  Going  to  war  to 
protect  her  commerce  at  that  particular  time  would 
have  been  unthinkable;  unless  she  added  to  self- 
interest  the  higher  one  of  humanity — the  protection 
of  a  nation  against  starvation.  In  either  case,  war 
was  not  either  her  remedy  or  her  weapon.  Fortun- 
ately, she  had  within  her  reach  the  means  by  which 
Britain  could  be  brought  to  reason  more  quickly  than 
by  the  use  of  armies  or  navies — she  could  cut  off  tem- 
porarily, food,  clothing  and  war  materials.  But  Mr. 
Wilson  did  neither  one  nor  the  other.  He  saw  in  Brit- 
ain's sea  methods,  autocracy  in  its  most  irritating 
and  objectionable  form — cold  , merciless,  destructive 
and  uncompromising.  Its  power  for  evil,  for  self- 
aggrandizement,  for  one-sided  punishment,  was  more 
than  duplicating  the  power  of  the  worst  despot  on  any 
throne  of  Europe.  Yet  it  did  not  appeal  to  him  that 

[108] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

this  was  a  form  of  autocracy  that  had  to  be  crushed, 
in  order  to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy.  As 
yet  the  beautiful  dream  of  making  the  world  safe  for 
democracy  had  not  flitted  through  the  President's 
brain.  That  "inspired"  conception  took  possession 
of  the  soul  of  Woodrow  Wilson  upon  the  refusal  of 
Germany  to  stay  the  submarine  warfare,  which  war- 
fare was  jeopardizing  American  commerce,  commerce 
which  was  employed  exclusively  by  Britain  in  Ger- 
man destruction. 

How  a  war,  that  was  threatened,  and  afterwards 
declared,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  profits  and 
commerce,  and  could  have  been  avoided  if  these 
profits  and  commerce  had  been  left  intact;  could  be 
turned  into  a  Holy  war  for  principle  and  humanity, 
is  beyond  all  human  understanding  and  will  remain 
for  all  time,  one  of  the  absurdities  of  history. 

America's  grievance  against  Germany  was  set  forth 
in  plain  and  specific  terms.  She  was  accused  of  de- 
stroying American  shipping.  If  the  two  countries 
were  to  remain  friends,  this  must  be  discontinued. 
If  discontinued,  America  and  Germany  would  con- 
tinue, in  their  historic  friendship;  if  persisted  in, 
war  would  result.  A  purely  business  proposition. 

No  "sacred"  principles  were  even  hinted  at,  much 
less  anticipated.  In  plain  English,  the  proposition 
was,  "continue  to  sink  our  ships  and  we  will  be  at 
war,  refrain  and  America  and  Germany  will  remain 
at  peace." 

Long  after  the  invasion  of  Belgium  and  the  thous- 
ands of  atrocities  credited  to  Germany,  we  find  Mr. 
Wilson  making  the  following  declaration  (December 
8th,  1914):  "This  is  a  war  with  which  we  have 

[109] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

nothing  to  do,  whose  causes  cannot  reach  us,  whose 
very  existence  affords  us  opportunities  of  friendship 
and  disinterested  service  which  should  make  us 
ashamed  of  any  thought  of  hostility." 

The  pertinent  question,  then,  naturally  arises,  why 
should  America  have  genuine  hostility  against  Ger- 
many in  1916,  for  the  invasion  of  Belgium  and  the 
atrocities  that  were  reported  when  Belgium  and 
France  were  first  occupied,  when  on  December  8th, 
1914,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  invasion  of  Bel- 
gium, coupled  with  rightful  information  regarding 
atrocities,  he  tells  his  people  that  they  should  be 
ashamed  to  have  any  thought  of  hostility. 

Again,  on  December  7th,  1915,  seven  months  after 
the  Lusitania  had  been  sunk,  he  tells  Congress  that, 
"we  have  stood  apart,  studiously  neutral.  It  was 
our  manifest  duty  to  do  so." 

Again,  on  September  2nd,  1916,  after  observing 
Europe's  conflagration  for  two  long  years,  Mr.  Wil- 
son, in  accepting  the  Democratic  nomination,  re- 
affirmed his  previous  declarations  and  gave  assurance 
to  the  American  people,  that  if  elected  for  a  second 
term  to  the  Presidency,  he  would  in  the  interests  of 
the  American  people,  and  the  interests  of  humanity, 
continue  to  lead  his  people  in  the  paths  of  peace  and 
neutrality.  He  gave  them  assurance,  with  as  com- 
plete knowledge  as  was  possible  for  any  man  to  pos- 
sess as  to  who  was  guilty  for  bringing  on  the  war,  with 
a  knowledge  of  the  particular  selfish  interests  that 
each  party  had  in  the  struggle,  with  a  knowledge  of 
Britain's  inhuman  program  of  the  starving  of  an  en- 
tire nation  and  with  an  appreciation  of  Germany's 

[110] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

terrible  method  of  warding  off  the  impending  calam- 
ity which  this  starvation  method  had  in  store  for  her. 

These  peaceful  utterances  on  the  part  of  the  Presi- 
dent were  received  with  both  confidence  and  approval 
by  the  people  of  the  country;  and  as  a  result  of  this 
confidence  and  approval,  and  in  obedience  to  the 
slogan,  "he  kept  us  out  of  the  war",  Mr.  Wilson  owes 
his  election  for  a  second  term. 

American  history  fully  bears  out  the  contention 
that  some  of  her  presidents  have  shown  traits  and 
characteristics  during  their  second  and  last  term  of 
office,  which  were  not  in  evidence  during  their  first 
term.  Having  no  fear  of  the  disapproval  of  the 
electorate,  an  independence  of  action  is  noted — often 
bordering  on  kingly  autocracy.  At  the  fag  end  of  his 
first  term  of  office,  and  particularly  preceding  the 
election  of  1916,  Mr.  Wilson  was  the  soft-tongued 
neutral;  but  no  sooner  was  he  installed  in  office  for 
the  second  term,  than  he  gave  the  world  to  under- 
stand that  Mr.  Wilson's  ideas  and  ideals  were  to  pre- 
vail— not  those  of  the  American  people. 

Mr.  Wilson,  almost  over-night,  assumed  a  decid- 
edly belligerent,  partisan,  and  uncompromising  atti- 
tude. As  yet  he  was  not  inspired  by  the  necessity 
of  fighting  or  making  the  world  safe  for  democracy. 
That  came  later,  during  the  flood-time  of  the  Wilson- 
ian  platitudinous  exuberance  which  well  nigh  engulfed 
the  world  in  a  tidal  wave  of  words.  What  he  really 
entered  the  war  for,  was  to  make  safe  the  Atlantic  for 
American  ammunition  ships  which  were  destined  for 
British  ports  but  ultimately  for  the  body  of  the  Ger- 
man soldier  and  also  to  make  safe  British  passenger 
vessels  which  carried  the  American  flag  at  their 

[111] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

masts,  and  in  their  holds,  shot  and  shell  which  would 
ultimately  blow  the  German  defenders  into  eternity. 

"Sink  our  vessels  and  there  will  be  war,  refrain 
from  so  doing  and  we  will  be  friends  "  That  was  the 
height  and  full  measure  of  Wilson's  war  aims  on 
April  18th,  1916,  nearly  two  years  after  the  European 
war  broke  out  and  Belgium  was  over-run,  one  year 
after  the  Lusitania  was  sunk,  and  nearly  two  years 
of  full  knowledge  of  both  Germany's  aims  and  objects, 
and  her  war  record. 

The  fires  for  humanity  had  not  yet  been  kindled  in 
Wilson's  heart — as  yet  we  detect  nothing  but  sordid, 
commonplace  self-interest. 

In  what  was  practically  an  ultimatum  to  Germany, 
Mr.  Wilson  in  1916  says:  "Unless  the  imperial  Ger- 
man government  shall  now  immediately  declare  and 
effect  an  abandonment  of  its  present  methods  of  sub- 
marine warfare  against  passenger  and  freight  carry- 
ing vessels,  the  government  of  the  United  States  can 
have  no  choice  but  to  sever  diplomatic  relations  with 
the  German  Empire  altogether." 

Had  Germany  acquiesced  in  Mr.  Wilson's  ultima- 
tum, America  would  probably  not  be  wearing  the 
halo  of  glory  she  is  to-day,  in  having  fought  and  won 
the  war  to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy;  which 
brought  peace  to  the  world — a  peace  which  is  now 
beyond  all  understanding. 

Not  only  did  Woodrow  Wilson  cause  America  to 
enter  the  war  for  purely  local  and  selfish  reasons,  but 
in  addition  to  this,  in  giving  his  reasons  for  so  doing, 
Mr.  Wilson  wilfully  and  grossly  misrepresented  the 
German  government.  On  February  3rd,  1917,  Mr. 
Wilson  announced  to  Congress  the  breaking  off  of 

[112] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

diplomatic  relations,  in  the  following  language:  "I 
think  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  in  view  of  this  dec- 
laration, which  suddenly  and  without  prior  instruct- 
ion of  any  kind  deliberately  withdraws  the  solemn 
assurrance  given  by  the  Imperial  Government's  note 
of  the  4th  of  May,  1916,  this  government  has  no 
alternative  consistent  with  the  dignity  and  honor  of 
the  United  States,  but  to  take  the  course  which,  in 
its  note  of  the  18th  of  April,  1916,  it  announced  that 
it  would  take  in  event  that  the  German  government 
did  not  declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  the 
methods  of  submarine  warfare  which  it  was  then  em- 
ploying and  to  which  it  now  purposes  again  to  resort." 

In  this  Mr.  Wilson  flatly  accuses  Germany  of  de- 
liberately breaking  a  solemn  assurance  given  to  this 
country  regarding  future  submarine  warfare.  Ger- 
many gave  no  such  solemn  assurance.  She  made  it 
plain  that  her  permanent  withdrawal  was  contingent. 
Germany  expressly  stated  that,  as  evidence  of  good 
faith,  she  would  discontinue  certain  submarine  prac- 
tices, provided  Britain  would  refrain  from  her  acts 
of  piracy.  She  asked  America  in  the  meantime  to 
use  her  influence  through  either  friendship  or  pressure 
to  have  Great  Britain  discontinue  her  particular 
piratical  warfare,  a  warfare  at  which  the  submarine 
methods  were  directed.  After  keeping  her  word,  which 
was  contingent,  and  waiting  several  months,  Ger- 
many announced  that  she  would  meet  piracy  with 
piracy — she  would  fight  the  devil  with  fire — she  would 
sink  all  commerce  destined  for  her  eneny,  no  matter 
from  what  source  it  came. 

The  remarkable  outcome  of  this  controversy  was 
now  culminating,  and  consisted  in  the  fact  that  not- 

[113] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

withstanding  Britain  inaugurated  piracy  on  American 
commerce,  which  meant  the  sinking  of  American 
ships  if  British  sea  orders  were  not  obeyed  and  which 
only  received  a  reprimand  from  America,  we  find  now 
that  America  is  willing  to  make  war  on  Germany  for 
interfering  with  American  commerce  although  Ger- 
many is  not  doing  this  by  reason  of  any  animosity 
for  America  but  in  order  to  save  herself  from  destruc- 
tion from  the  result  of  Britain's  illegal  warfare.  Had 
America  been  fair  and  firm  in  the  beginning  in  her 
treatment  of  British  violation  of  international  law, 
the  world  in  all  probability  would  have  been  saved 
the  horrors  of  submarine  warfare  as  employed  against 
merchant  vessels  and  America  would  not  have  been 
called  upon  to  expend  either  her  blood  or  treasure. 
There  is  no  question  that  it  was  Wilson's  indecision 
and  partiality,  in  the  early  stages  of  the  war,  that 
prolonged  the  struggle,  put  compromise  out  of  the 
question  and  brought  America  into  the  war. 

There  is  no  question  that  there  were  many  periods 
during  the  course  of  the  war  when  Germany  would 
have  been  willing  to  end  the  struggle,  without  loss 
or  gain  of  territory,  or  without  giving  or  receiving 
indemnity. 

The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  Great  Britain  when 
the  hopelessness  of  the  struggle  and  its  appalling 
costs  were  appreciated;  provided  a  strong  outside 
force  were  injected,  which  would  excuse  her  in  the 
eyes  of  her  associates  and  at  the  same  time  save 
her  pride. 

It  is  also  true,  needless  to  say,  that  if  either  bel- 
ligerant  were  winning  they  would  not  listen  to  out- 
side suggestion  or  dictation. 

[114] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,  as  it  is  also 
a  law  unto  itself.  After  repeated  warnings  to  Great 
Britain  and  appeals  to  the  United  States,  Germany 
decided  to  use  the  submarine,  which  must  rightly 
be  termed  David's  sling  against  an  arrogant  Goliath. 

A  few  days  of  this  warfare  changed,  as  if  by  magic, 
the  whole  military  situation  and  it  became  evident  to 
even  a  novice,  that  the  old,  world-champion,  the  hero 
of  a  thousand  fair  and  unfair  fights  was  becoming 
groggy  and  sinking  under  the  terrible  blows  delivered 
beneath  the  belt  that  he  was  receiving  in  return  for 
the  foul  blows  that  he  had  delivered  from  the  very 
beginning  of  the  fight.  It  became  evident  to  his 
relatives  and  friends  and  business  associates,  that 
something  must  be  done,  and  done  quickly  to  save 
the  old  warrior  from  a  knock-out. 

America  as  a  whole,  in  some  respects,  would  not 
waste  any  sentiment  in  this  regard  even  if  they  saw 
Britain  prostrate  in  the  ring,  but  they  feared  the 
prospective  champion.  America,  in  this,  was  very 
much  in  the  same  frame  of  mind  as  is  reported  of  a 
New  York  politician  who  had  deserted  the  Demo- 
cratic party  on  the  free  silver  issue  and  joined  the 
Republicans.  Later  he  returned  to  the  Democratic 
fold.  On  being  accused  of  insincerity  and  on  being 
asked  for  an  explanation  of  his  conduct,  replied  that, 
"he  would  rather  trust  the  boss  he  knew  than  the 
boss  he  did  not  know." 

If  America  was  going  to  have  a  sea-power  boss,  she 
would  rather  trust  the  boss  who  had  become  benev- 
olent in  the  long  use  of  autocracy  than  one  whom  she 
mistrusted  as  being  a  rising  aspirant  to  world  rule 
and  of  whose  graciousness  she  was  in  doubt. 

[115] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

When  Great  Britain  announced  that  she  intended 
to  have  the  contest  decided  by  purely  physical  means ; 
and  in  pursuance  of  that  purpose  elected  to  use  foul 
means  for  its  accomplishment,  she  was,  considering 
the  resourcefulness,  disposition,  and  desperation  of 
her  opponent,  treading  on  dangerous  ground.  In  ma- 
king her  decision,  she  stupidly  and  persistently 
undervalued  the  submarine. 

If  this  "no  compromise"  slogan  of  Britain's,  did  not 
stir  President  Wilson  to  action,  it  certainly  must  have 
caused  him  some  uneasiness,  even  in  the  early  stages 
of  the  struggle.  He  surely  must  have  entertained 
the  possibilities  of  defeat  for  Britain.  Justly  or  un- 
justly, the  American  people  would  not  allow  Britain's 
subjugation  at  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  Mani- 
festly not.  Even  though  Great  Britain  richly  de- 
served punishment — even  defeat — there  is  no  ques- 
tion, Mr.  Wilson  would  use  his  high  office  to  save 
her  from  that  humiliation.  Therefore,  Mr.  Wil- 
son must  have  entertained  even  from  the  ope- 
ning of  hostilities,  the  possibility  that  America 
would  have  to  enter  the  struggle  to  save  Britain  from 
destruction.  If  that  were  true,  it  is  evident  that 
America  had  an  implied,  if  not  a  legal  or  moral  obli- 
gation to  see  that  Britain  was  not  overcome.  And 
Britain's  reckless  purpose  of  making  this  a  "finish 
fight"  with  all  the  possible  evil  consequences  for  her, 
was  not  she  assuming  this  attitude  of  bravado  largely 
for  the  reason  that  she  knew,  or  at  least  felt  confident, 
that  did  defeat  at  any  time  stare  her  in  the  face, 
America  would  step  in  to  avert  the  impending  calam- 
ity. True,  America  had  not  signed  a  bond  to  save 
Britain;  but,  nevertheless,  there  existed  an  implied 

[116] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

bond,  stronger  than  the  written  bond,  the  bond  of 
blood,  of  language,  and  of  mutual  interests. 

Considering  these  outstanding  facts  and  conditions 
and  the  danger  and  responsibility  for  America  that 
lurked  in  Britain's  reckless  and  extravagant  war  aims, 
was  it  not  Mr.  Wilson's  manifest  duty,  as  well  as  his 
right,  to  bring  intelligent  pressure  on  Britain,  to  the 
end  that  she  modify  both  her  method  of  warfare  as 
well  as  her  war  aims? 

In  the  event  that  Great  Britain  refused  reasonable 
advice,  it  was  Mr. Wilson's  duty  to  immediately  take 
up  the  question  with  Germany,  looking  to  adjusting 
an  honorable  peace  settlement;  a  settlement  con- 
ceived in  a  spirit  of  justice  and  proffered  to  all  bel- 
ligerents with  scrupulous  regard  for  impartiality. 

Considering  all  the  known  facts  relating  to  the 
causes  which  produced  the  war;  keeping  in  mind, 
that  each  came  into  court  with  hands  more  or  less 
unclean,  each  clearly  having  objects  of  a  selfish  nature 
in  view,  the  only  possible  peace  terms  that  could  be 
consistently  urged  by  Mr.  Wilson,  would  be  on  the 
basis  of  no  indemnity,  no  territory,  or  no  advantage 
to  any  belligerent,  with  the  exception  that  Germany 
compensate  Belgium  for  invasion,  etc. 

Viewing  the  whole  question  at  that  time  with  a 
view  to  justice  and  expediency,  or  looking  back  at  the 
present  time  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  happen- 
ings and  events,  a  peace  on  that  basis,  would,  in  time, 
have  met  the  approval  of  mankind. 

Had  Germany  refused  such  a  peace  program  as 
that,  it  would  have  been  evident  to  Mr.  Wilson  that 
she  was  out  for  conquest  and  not  for  defense,  and  he 
could,  with  a  clear  conscience,  if  he  chose,  throw 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

support  to  the  "boss  he  knew  rather  than  to  the  boss 
he  did  not  know." 

On  the  other  hand,  had  Germany  agreed  to  these 
terms  and  Britain  refused,  Mr.  Wilson  could  have, 
and  should  have,  in  order  to  bring  Britain  to  fairness 
and  sanity,  cut  off  all  supplies  from  her.  In  this 
he  would  have  the  approval  and  support  of  a  majority 
of  his  countrymen,  neutral  nations  generally,  as  well 
as  a  majority  of  the  peoples  who  made  up  the  bel- 
ligerent nations. 

Instead  of  taking  action  and  employing  the  power 
and  prestige  at  his  disposal,  he  frittered  away  prec- 
ious months  in  "watchful  waiting" — a  catchy  and 
euphonious  phrase  for  the  absence  of  plan  or  lack 
of  initiative. 

Mr.  Wilson  drifted  on  this  course  until  Germany, 
through  necessity,  perfected  a  weapon  so  terrible  in 
its  nature  for  destruction,  so  far-reaching  in  its  pos- 
sibilities, that  it  not  only  answered  piracy  by  piracy, 
but  if  allowed  to  continue,  meant  Britain's  down- 
fall and  the  triumph  of  Germany — with  all  that 
that  might  mean  for  America  and  the  world. 

With  this  new  weapon  in  her  hand  and  victory  now 
a  probability,  with  hatred  for  her  enemies  and  con- 
tempt for  America,  is  it  to  be  wondered  that  Ger- 
many now  withdrew  all  peace  overtures  which  she 
had  proffered  from  time  to  time? 

America's  opportunity  for  bringing  about  peace 
had  passed;  and  now,  in  order  to  save  Britain  from 
defeat,  she  had  to  fight.  America's  decision  had 
brought  her  into  a  frightful  dilemma.  She  was  com- 
pelled, if  she  entered  at  all,  to  be  entwined  in  the 
coils  and  meshes  of  the  Entente.  Their  individual 

[118] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

war  aims  America  could  not  repudiate,  lest  one  of 
them  should  drop  out;  these  pricniples  that  she  con- 
sidered just  and  fair,  she  could  not  announce  without 
offending  her  new  associates  and  weakening  their 
fighting  spirit:  and  in  order  to  meet  the  dilemma, 
Mr.  Wilson  resorted  to  high  sounding,  and  at  times 
meaningless,  phrase  making,  sentiments  which  could 
be  interpreted  in  as  many  different  ways  as  humanity 
possessed  different  brain  idiosyncrasies.  To  the  Eng- 
lishman he  was  a  brother,  to  the  Frenchman  a  friend 
and  to  the  Russian  and  Jap  he  was  a  comrade  in  the 
sacred  cause  of  democracy  against  autocracy,  to 
the  German  people  he  posed  as  their  would-be  deliver- 
er and  to  the  German  rulers  he  was  the  wrath  of  God. 

The  truth  is,  he  entered  the  war  to  save  American 
shipping  from  destruction  and  to  save  America's  chief 
debtor  from  defeat. 

Now  that  America  was  in  the  war,  "Democracy" 
was  to  be  the  slogan  and  Wilson  its  prophet.  To 
each  of  Mr.  Wilson's  lofty  declarations  and  pro- 
nouncements his  new  European  and  Asiatic  associates 
reverently  bowed  and  said  "Amen — we  agree 
with  every  word  of  that,  whatever  it  means."  Un- 
fortunately for  Mr.  Wilson,  innocent  and  guileless 
prophet,  inexperienced  and  callow  diplomat,  unfor- 
tunate for  him  indeed,  that  the  Entente  were  not  at 
the  time,  required  to  put  in  black  and  white  their 
conception  of  what  they  really  did  understand  as  to 
the  meaning  and  purport  of  Mr.  Wilson's  decla- 
rations. Indeed,  it  was  not  until  Germany  was 
defeated,  and  until  he  met  his  victorious  friends  in 
Paris,  that  he  discovered  to  his  horror  that  his  "14 
Points"  were  only  considered  by  the  experienced  and 

[119] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

resourceful  statesmen  of  England,  France,  Italy  and 
Japan,  as  being  juvenile  first  exercises  in  diplomacy; 
and  democracy  as  they  understood  it,  consisted  in 
appropriating  everything  of  value  in  sight,  in  ac- 
cordance with  traditions  and  practices  of  the  honor- 
able statesmen  which  Mr.  Wilson  had,  so  fortunately 
for  democracy,  America  and  the  world,  cast  his  lot. 

As  a  result  of  this  "peace"  meeting  Mr.  Wilson 
returned  to  America,  like  Moses  from  the  Fair,  with 
a  case  of  green  spectacles,  in  the  form  of  a  peace 
treaty,  an  instrument  which  would  do  credit  and 
honor  to  Bismarck,  Napoleon  the  First,  Alexander  or 
Caesar. 

Thus  to  their  long  list  of  crimes  the  Allies  added  the 
heartless  one  of  taking  advantage  of  pastoral  in- 
nocence, pedagogic  statesmanship  and  democratic 
simplicity,  venturing  abroad  in  obedience  to  the 
dictates  of  vanity  and  the  insipient  dreams  of  am- 
bition. 

All  thinking  men  know  that  there  was  a  time  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  war  when  Woodrow  Wilson 
could  have  dictated  to  his  associates  the  terms  for  a 
just  and  lasting  peace;  there  was  a  time  when  we 
could  have  had  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  gradual  dis- 
armament, made  provision  for  a  right  disposition  of 
the  German  colonies,  reconciled  Italy  and  relief  for 
all  time  from  the  Japanese  menace.  The  time  for 
dictating  that  peace  to  our  associates  was  when  they 
were  depending  on  America's  aid  to  save  them  from 
defeat — the  time  was  not  when  Germany  lay  pros- 
trate at  the  feet  of  her  enemies  and  when  the  Allies 
cared  not  the  snap  of  their  fingers  for  further 
American  aid. 

[120] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Surely  Mr.  Wilson  realized  in  his  heart  of  hearts 
as  he  sat  at  the  Paris  Council  Table  and  as  he  wit- 
nessed the  independence  and  greed  on  every  hand 
that  there  was  a  vast  difference  in  dealing  with  men 
fighting  with  their  "backs  to  the  wall"  and  the  same 
group  of  men  when  they  had  become  exhaltling 
victors. 


The  service  that  these  world  leaders  performed  for 
mankind  and  the  peace  which  they  evoked,  I  will 
attempt  to  set  forth  and  describe  in  the  following 
chapter. 


[121] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  PEACE  OF  VERSAILLES. 

Strange  though  it  may  appear,  the  great  mass  of 
the  peoples  of  the  world,  vaguely  fought  for  ideals. 
This  is  quite  as  true  of  Germany  as  of  Britain,  or 
America.  No  country  had  a  monopoly  of  spirit,  or 
good  intention.  The  peoples  of  no  country,  the  day 
before  the  war  began,  wanted  the  property  of  another. 
They  fought,  first  of  all,  and  mainly,  against  the 
possibility  of  foreign  aggression — for  home  and  fire- 
side. In  pursuit  of  this,  the  Germans  felt  that  they 
had  to  invade  Belgium  and  attack  France:  and  later 
the  American  people,  with  much  less  reason,  brought 
themselves  to  believe,  that  they  were  called  upon 
to  sacrifice  their  sons,  on  foreign  soil,  3,000  miles  from 
home,  in  order  to  protect  their  country  from  some 
future  attack,  vague  and  ill-founded  though  the  pos- 
sibility of  that  might  be.  First  of  all,  the  laudable 
ideal  for  which  they  all  fought,  as  has  been  stated, 
was  for  the  preservation  and  the  protection  of  home 
and  country.  As  the  conflict  progressed,  new  ideals, 
particularly  in  America,  were  injected;  and  soon  the 
warriors  on  both  sides  began  to  feel  that  they  were 
engaged  in  a  sacred  cause — even  to  the  hastening  of 
Christ's  Kingdom  on  Earth. 

To-day,  after  the  conflict  has  subsided,  the  German, 
still  confident  of  the  righteousness  of  his  position,  is 
quite  at  a  loss  to  interpret  this  so-called  decree  of 
Providence,  and  on  looking  over  the  whole  field,  is 
beginning  to  suspect  that  it  is  not  a  final  decree,  or 

[122] 


even  a  decree  at  all,  but  only  a  painful  chapter  in  a 
great  volume,  a  volume  that  contains  many  chap- 
ters; and  perhaps  in  the  last  chapter  the  final  decree 
shall  be  set  forth,  even  in  words  that  all  nations  may 
understand,  words  that  will  burn  like  fire  into  the 
hearts  and  conscience  of  mankind. 

And  what  of  the  victors?  How  do  they  fare  in 
mind  and  estate  since  the  war  closed? 

Compare  to-day,  if  you  will,  with  Armistice  Day, 
that  riotous  culmination  of  brute  force,  that  orgy  of 
sensuous  emotions,  that  heathen  war-dance  of  the 
nations  around  the  flickering  embers  of  a  dying  civ- 
ilization, that  fitting  culmination  of  lies, deceit,  hatred, 
malice  and  blood-lust;  and  then  ask  yousrelf  why 
all  this  change  in  spirit,  if  not  in  understanding? 

Was  there  ever  since  the  world  began,  so  complete 
a  disillusionment?  Was  ever  bread  in  the  hand,  so 
mysteriously  turned  to  stone,  or  the  rainbow  of  prom- 
ise turned  to  a  thunder-cloud  or  gold  to  dross,  as 
since  one-half  of  the  world,  by  physical  force,  suc- 
cessfully crushed  and  enslaved  the  other  half  of  God's 
creation — God's  handiwork — God's  own  sons  and 
daughters. 

To-day,  the  world  sees  nothing  but  the  triumph 
of  brute  force  and  its  evil  fruits — a  curse  alike  to  the 
victor  as  well  as  the  vanquished. 

As  to  whether  Britain's  starvation  methods  of  war- 
fare or  Wilson's  ideality  contributed  most  to  break 
down  German  resistance  and  compelled  her  to  sur- 
render, I  will  not  here  discuss;  but  I  will  venture  to 
say,  that  history  will  bear  out,  that  the  President's 
pronouncements  betrayed  the  German  people,  and 
wittingly  or  unwittingly,  assisted  in  causing  them  to 

[123] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

be  delivered,  body  and  soul,  into  the  hands  of  the 
mpstrapacious  and  soulless  diplomatic  robbers  that 
ever  imposed  their  lustful  will  on  a  vanquished 
people. 

The  American  President  transformed  himself  into 
the  serpent,  not  a  serpent  with  two  eyes,  but  with 
fourteen,  each  of  which  he  used  not  only  to  charm, 
but  to  captivate.  He  crawled  into  the  German  home, 
where  poverty,  destitution  and  despair;  reigned  su- 
preme; and  he  promised  better  things;  peace  of  mind 
and  body,  and  that  beyond  even  the  understanding; 
he  crawled  into  the  trenches  and  seduced  by  his 
honeyed  words  and  fair  promises  the  scarred  grim 
veterans,  who  stood  for  months  and  years  immovable, 
before  the  onslaught  of  a  united  world. 

He  promised  them  bread — but  he  gave  them  a 
stone — he  held  out  hope — but  left  them  in  mortifica- 
tion and  despair. 

In  no  sense,  or  in  no  particular,  is  the  so-called 
Peace  Treaty  in  accordance  with  Mr.  Wilson's  prom- 
ises and  stipulations — promises  that  were  acquiesced 
in  by  Britain  and  France,  and  upon  which  Germany 
consented  to  lay  down  her  arms. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  German  did  not 
surrender  unconditionally;  but  expressed  themselves 
as  willing  to  end  the  war  on  the  basis  of  President 
Wilson's  Fourteen  Points.  In  order  that  there  might 
be  no  misunderstanding  regarding  ths,  the  President 
addressed  a  note  to  Germany,  asking  them  to  make 
it  plain,  beyond  conjecture,  that  they  would  lay 
down  their  arms  and  end  the  struggle  on  the  basis  of 
his  Fourteen  Points.  Germany  made  it  clear,  in  her 
reply,  that  this  was  her  understanding  and  intention. 

[124] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

It  will  be  remembered  that  up  to  this  time  Britain 
and  France  had  allowed  the  world  to  understand 
that  Mr.  Wilson  was  the  accredited  and  official  spokes- 
man for  those  forces  which  were  at  war  on  Germany. 
Now  that  Germany  was  about  to  capitulate  (and 
that  due  in  a  large  measure  to  the  operation  on  the 
German  mind  of  the  Fourteen  Points),  Great  Brit- 
ain and  France  immediately  insisted  on  adding  two 
new  conditions  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities;  one 
of  which  completely  nullified  Mr.  Wilson's  "Freedom 
of  the  Seas"  stipulation,  and  the  other  had  to  do  with 
reparation,  which  subsequently  proved  another  name 
for  indemnities,  by  which  the  Allies  were  able  to  crush 
Germany,  both  politically  and  commercially. 

It  is  true,  that  the  task  of  putting  Mr.  Wilson's 
Fourteen  Points  into  a  concrete  agreement,  would 
be  almost  as  impossible  as  it  would  be  to  harness  a 
rainbow,  or  set  forth  in  terms  of  business — the  milky 
way;  yet  after  all,  no  well-intentioned  man,  even  one 
without  experience  in  diplomacy,  could  fail  to  under- 
stand, not  only  the  substance,  but  the  spirit  of  Mr. 
Wilson's  deliverences.  Friend  and  foe  alike  knew 
that  these  stood  for  the  rights  of  man;  for  better 
world  relations,  and  for  the  exaltation  of  justice. 
Lloyd  George  undoubtedly  understood  Wilson's  mes- 
sage to  mankind.  The  force  of  these  utterances,  may 
even  at  least,  have  temporily  punctured  the  skin 
and  entered  the  dry  bones  of  Clemenceau;  that  evil 
spirit  of  a  dead  past. 

Yet,  Wilson's  was  the  light  that  failed — failed  in 
the  darkest  and  most  tragic  hour  since  the  creation 
of  the  world — at  the  death  and  dismemberment  of 
a  great  nation  and  a  great  people. 

[125J 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

All  will  agree  that  the  representatives  of  the  nations 
assembled  in  Paris  had  the  greatest  opportunity  of 
any  group  of  men  during  all  time,  of  placing  the  affairs 
of  the  world  on  a  sound  and  enduring  basis  and  laying 
the  foundation  for  an  international  peace  and  good 
will  which  would  stand  the  test  of  time.  Then,  what 
were  the  causes  which  produced  so  unhappy  an  ending 
to  that  which  promised  so  much  for  mankind?  There 
were  many  contributing  factors;  the  chief  of  which 
was  the  helpless  and  impotent  condition  of  Germany 
owing  to  the  complete  and  overwhelming  victory  of 
the  Allies,  due  to  American  intervention.  With  all 
resistence  broken  down,  a  one-sided  peace  is  inevit- 
able. The  victor,  in  that  case,  may  go  any  distance 
that  hate  and  greed  would  dictate.  An  unbeaten 
army  in  the  field,  although  incapable  of  victory, 
makes  for  compromise — and  compromise  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  more  nearly  balances  justice  than  a  com- 
plete victory  of  one  of  the  participants,  particularly 
if  it  be  a  physical  victory. 

Mr.  Wilson's  original  formula,  "Peace  without  Vic- 
tory", would  have  prevented  this  peace  catastrophe, 
had  it  been  logically  and  consistently  adhered  to;  but 
peace  by  victory,  not  only  placed  Germany  in  a  posi- 
tion that  she  could  not  resist  injustice;  but  it  also 
placed  Mr.  Wilson  and  his  precious  Fourteen  Points, 
in  just  as  impotent  a  condition  as  Germany;  for  the 
reason  that  with  Germany  out  of  the  way  and  not 
to  be  feared,  America  was  of  no  further  use  to  Britain 
and  France — a  fact  which  the  President  soon  disco- 
vered when  the  Versailles  Conference  got  down  to 
serious,  practical  business. 

[126] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Being  apprehensive  regarding  placing  both  Ger- 
many and  America  in  the  power  of  the  Allies,  under 
conditions  named,  I  wrote  the  Administration  and 
leading  members  of  Congress  regarding  our  danger; 
pointing  out  that  we  were  valued  by  Britain  and 
France  only  so  long  as  we  were  needed  by  them  and 
useful  to  them,  and  if  we  allowed  Germany  to  be 
beaten  before  definite  war  settlement  conditions 
were  arrived  at,  America  would  have  no  influence  at 
the  Peace  Table,  and  that  the  result  would  be  a  peace 
settlement  that  would  be  both  cruel  and  unjust,  out 
of  which  would  eventually  come  other  wars. 

In  addition  to  this  I  communicated  to  Congress  and 
the  Administration,  that  which  I  conceived  to  be  the 
spirit  in  which  the  Peace  Representatives  should  ap- 
proach those  questions  upon  the  solution  of  which, 
the  future  peace  of  the  world  depended.  The  follow- 
ing statements  of  the  case,  as  well  as  the  contention 
contained  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  were  swept 
aside  particularly  by  the  Administration,  as  being 
pro-German  propaganda — propaganda  calculated  to 
produce  dissention  between  America  and  "our  loyal 
and  honorable  allies".  I  will  leave  it  to  my  readers 
whether  or  not  time  and  subsequent  events  have  or 
have  not  proven  the  truth  of  my  contention.  The 
following  is  what  I  conceived  to  be  the  spirit  in 
which  the  Peace  Representatives  should  have  ap- 
proached their  task: 


"The  great  War  Drama  is  rapidly  nearing  its  close. 
The  world  is  turning  its  eyes  towards  universal  peace. 
Between  the  final  act  of  war  and  the  dawn  of  a  world 

[127] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

peace  lies  a  period  of  neither  war  nor  peace,  a  period 
of  uncertainty  and  doubt  on  the  one  hand,  and  faith 
and  hope  on  the  other.  That  period,  the  most  mom- 
entous in  all  history,  will  be  spanned  by  the  great 
conference  of  the  representatives  of  the  nations  as- 
sembled for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  present  dif- 
ferences, and  formulating  rules  for  the  guidance  of 
nations  in  reference  to  their  conduct — one  toward  the 
other.  On  the  wisdom,  justice  and  moderation  of 
this  great  assembly  depends  in  a  large  measure  the 
future  misery  or  happiness  of  mankind. 

The  labors  of  this  International  Conference  may 
come  under  two  headings  (1)  the  adjusting  of  all  dif- 
ferences between  the  Central  Powers  and  the  Entente 
Allies,  (2)  the  adjustment  of  differences  that  may 
exist  between  nations,  without  regard  to  how  they 
were  grouped  during  the  war,  and  also  the  considera- 
tion of  rules  for  the  conduct  qf  nations,  naming  pen- 
alties for  the  infraction  of  these  rules,  together  with 
the  adoption  of  means  for  the  enforcement  of  decis- 
ions. 

There  are  those  who  contend  that  the  time  is  not 
yet  ripe  for  the  formation  of  a  League  of  Nations. 
Whether  that  claim  can  be  substantiated  or  not,  de- 
pends largely  on  how  the  Conference  acquits  itself 
in  the  first  business  before  it,  namely,  the  policy  pur- 
sued in  the  settlement  of  the  present  war.  If  the 
rewards  of  the  victor  be  exacted — if  Christian  dip- 
lomacy has  no  part  in  bringing  to  a  close  and  settling 
this  contest,  if  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth  policy  still  prevails,  then  the  hope  for  future 
world  peace  is  based  on  shifting  sands.  On  the  con- 
rary,  if  the  meeting  of  this  great  body  shall  mark  the 

[128] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

beginning  of  a  new  era,  registering  the  hour  on  the 
dial  of  time  when  old  things  shall  have  passed  away, 
these  men  who  represent  the  nations  must  be  im- 
bued with  the  spirit  of  the  great  Spaniard,  when  he 
proclaimed,  "Whereas  all  the  attributes  of  God  are 
equal,  His  mercy  will  always  be  more  dear  to  man- 
kind than  His  justice." 

The  settlement  with  Germany  will  at  the  same 
time  constitute  the  least  and  the  most  important 
work  of  the  Conference,  the  least  in  comparison  with 
those  transcendent  questions  which  have  to  do  with 
the  very  destiny  of  nations,  and  the  most  important 
as  showing  whether  those  who  lead  mankind  and 
speak  for  them  can  rise  above  anger,  malice,  revenge 
and  self-interest,  thereby  convincing  the  world  that  a 
League  of  Nations  is  not  a  dream. 

It  is  indeed  unfortunate,  that  a  World  Conference 
whose  findings  and  recommendations  be  free  from 
bias,  should  assemble  so  soon  following  a  war  that  has 
left  so  many  unhealed  wounds  and  so  many  burning 
hearts.  Conditions  do  not  make  for  the  purest  and 
highest  order  of  judgment.  However,  the  situation 
is  to  a  certain  extent  saved  by  the  prominent  part 
that  America  will  be  called  upon  to  play  in  the 
Council  of  the  Nations.  America's  position  is  unique. 
Although  she  has  been  a  leading  factor  in  deciding 
this  contest,  she  has  been  called  upon  to  sacrifice  less 
blood  and  treasure  than  any  of  the  contestants.  On 
this  account,  America  will  approach  the  Council  Table 
in  better  temper  and  in  a  more  judicial  frame  of  mind 
than  can  be  expected  of  her  associates. 

It  may  well  be  assumed  in  advance  that  the  Amer- 
ican representatives  will  insist  on  just  terms  as  be- 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

tween  the  Central  Powers  and  the  Entente  Allies.  In 
determining  a  "just  settlement"  they  in  all  liklihood, 
among  other  things,  will  take  into  consideration  the 
following  outstanding  circumstances  and  conditions: 
(1)  That  a  large  portion  of  the  German  population 
had  no  lust  for  conquest,  and  had  no  hand  in  willing 
this  war.  That  they  were  kept  in  ignorance  regarding 
the  true  object  of  their  rulers,  and  that  they  were  con- 
stantly misinformed,  through  false  propaganda,  as  to 
the  true  situation  in  all  its  relations.  Therefore,  any 
hardships  or  extreme  measures  that  might  be  directed 
at  German  leaders  will, without  doubt,  fall  on  the  in- 
nocent in  greater  numbers  than  on  the  guilty.  (2)  In- 
asmuch as  this  is,  in  all  probability,  the  last  onslaught 
of  autocracy  against  the  rising  and  united  forces  of 
a  revitalized  democracy,  and  that  a  new  era  is  about 
to  be  ushered  in,  they  will  on  this  account  temper 
justice  with  moderation  if  not  with  mercy,  especially 
when  they  remember  that  nearly  all  considerable 
nations  represented  at  the  great  Council  Table,  have 
grown  to  their  present  proportion  by  conquests  more 
or  less  ambitious,  if  not  lustful  in  their  nature.  (3) 
That  any  peace  terms  or  settlement  forced  revenge- 
fully or  arbitrarily  on  a  great  people,  will  not  and 
never  can  be  permanent,  as  every  nation  has  its  pride 
and  national  honor.  (4)  America  has  very  properly 
insisted,  before  meeting  the  German  representatives, 
that  they  inaugurate  a  constitutional  government  in  the 
Empire,  or  at  least  one  in  which  the  will  of  the  people 
is  supreme.  That  stipulation  carries  with  it  the  sup- 
position that  the  German  people  are  capable  of  ex- 
ercising this  right  and  will  welcome  this  gift  of  Free- 
dom. The  further  conclusion  is  logical,  namely,  that 

[130] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

had  all  power  been  vested  in  the  German  people  in 
August,  1914,  and  the  people  worked  in  harmony 
with  the  peoples  of  the  other  nations,  this  war  would 
never  have  darkened  the  pages  of  history.  If  we  refuse 
to  admit  the  truth  of  this  conclusion,  we  then  must 
confess  that  our  insistence  regarding  the  transfer  of 
the  supreme  power  from  a  select  few  to  the  shoulders 
of  all  the  people,  was  and  is,  a  vain  thing. 

Now,  after  these  terrible  pangs  of  Liberty,  if  a  new 
Germany  had  been  born  and  a  new  democracy  created, 
free  from  the  shackles  of  Autocracy,  our  representat- 
ives, it  is  hoped,  will  not  be  found  assisting  in  substi- 
tuting the  chains  of  the  conqueror  for  those  of  the 
Kaiser". 


It  is  possible  that  Mr.  Wilson  did  not  assist  in 
substituting  "the  chains  of  the  conqueror  for  those 
of  the  Kaiser",  but  he  certainly  assisted  through  his 
words  and  by  the  armies  of  which  he  was  Commander 
in-Chief,  in  delivering  the  German  people,  helpless 
and  hopeless,  into  the  hands  of  those  who,  with  cun- 
ning and  deceit,  diabolically  forged  chains  and  shack- 
les around  their  victims,  placing  them  in  as  complete 
bondage  as  those  of  any  nation,  or  people,  or  tribe,  in 
the  world's  darkest  past.  The  peace  that  has  been 
consummated — is  not  only  the  peace  of  the  savage — 
but  added  to  this,  the  cunning  of  that  soulless  product 
of  our  so-called  civilization,  that  cynical  servant  of 
kings  and  courts,  that  creature  who  is  devoid  of  every 
generous  impulse — the  modern  diplomat. 

We  may  take  the  generous  view  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
part  in  the  peace  tragedy — that  he  did  not  personally 

[131] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

assist  in  putting  the  shackles  of  the  conqueror  on  the 
German  people ;  but  what  must  we  think  of  the  moral 
make-up  of  the  man,  not  to  speak  of  the  mental, 
when  we  find  him  justifying  this  Versailles  monstros- 
ity, and  blandly  telling  the  world  that  it  was  con- 
ceived in  the  spirit  of  his  Fourteen  Points  and  born 
of  Justice. 

Manifestly,  we  have  here  a  case  of  mental  collapse 
or  one  of  moral  reversal,  or  of  both.  Time  alone  may 
tell. 

It  is  not  theories  we  are  now  dealing  with;  it  is 
facts  and  consequences.  It  is  not  only  important 
that  we  know  not  only  the  meaning  of  the  Fourteen 
Points  but  also  their  purpose.  As  to  their  meaning 
no  one  was  in  doubt.  If  there  ever  was  any  doubt,  it 
was  as  regards  their  sincerity.  They  did  not  make  an 
appeal  alone  to  the  intellect,  but  to  the  heart  and 
conscience  as  well.  They  had  to  do  with  feeling,  as 
well  as  with  understanding.  They  promised  life,  not 
death;  freedom,  not  slavery;  a  golden  sunrise,  not 
the  lowering  shadows  of  the  night;  peace,  good-will, 
and  "charity  for  all,  and  malice  toward  none." 

Their  purpose  was  well  understood  by  all.  It  was 
the  pen  working  in  conjunction  with  the  sword.  The 
psychologists  of  the  Allies,  built  more  on  Mr. Wilson's 
declarations,  than  on  a  thousand  belching  cannon.  He 
was  a  host  in  himself.  His  apparant  spirit  of  fairness 
and  conciliation,  his  assurances,  his  sympathy — all 
were  calculated  to  alienate  the  German  people  from 
their  rulers  and  place  them  unreservedly  under  the 
protection  of  that  great  new  World  Leader,  who,  far 
from  the  strife  of  Europe,  had  sent  forth  a  message 
that  had  echoed  in  the  hearts  of  all  mankind. 

[132] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Mr.  Wilson  encouraged  the  people  of  Germany  to 
rebel  against  their  government — tacitly  upholding 
the  sacred  and  inalienable  right  of  revolution.  This 
they  did.  Thus  the  pen  and  the  sword,  working  har- 
moniously together,  supplemented  by  starvation, 
brought  German  leaders  to  ask  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties, for  the  purpose  of  ending  the  war  on  the  basis 
of  Mr.  Wilson's  promises  and  conditions,  as  embodied 
in  the  Fourteen  Points. 

Before  an  agreement  would  be  entered  into  which 
should  have  for  a  basis,  the  Fourteen  Points,  the  Ger- 
mans were  informed  by  Mr.  Wilson  that  they  would 
have  to  (l)dethrone  the  Kaiser  (2)  establish  a  repre- 
sentative government  in  Germany  (3)  evacuate  all 
occupied  territory  (4)  render  themselves  impotent 
and  helpless  by  disarming. 

This  they  complied  with  in  every  detail — implicitly 
relying  on  Mr.  Wilson's  word  and  protection. 

And  now  let  us  see  what  they  got. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  attempt  a  minute  dissection 
or  a  critical  analysis  of  this  so-called  peace  agree- 
ment, and  what  it  means  for  mankind.  That  task  I 
will  leave  to  those  who  possess,  to  a  much  greater 
degree  than  I,  the  divine  gift  of  seeing  into  the  future 
and  measuring  consequences. 

As  I  approach  this  subject,  it  is  with  feelings  of  my 
own  littleness  and  impotency,  combined  with  those 
of  pity,  sorrow  and  contempt.  When  one  views  the 
enormity  of  this  crime — it  is  not,  as  Milton  says:  to 
"justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men",  but  how  are  we 
to  justify  the  ways  of  these  men  to  God? 

You  ask,  what  will  be  the  consequences  of  this 
peace.  You  might  as  well  ask  the  scientist  to  name 

[133] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

the  consequences  that  would  come  from  the  implant- 
ing of  the  germs  of  a  nameless  disease  in  the  human 
body.  Alas,  not  one  generation,  but  many  would  be 
required  to  render  the  sum  total  of  the  misery,  suf- 
fering and  degradation  that  would  follow.  Not  the 
first  victim  alone  would  make  the  sum  total;  but 
years  hence,  the  babbling  idiot,  the  dwarfed  or  de- 
formed creature,  the  innocent  child  with  a  diseased 
and  polluted  body;  would  form  a  part  of  an  appalling 
whole,  of  the  sum  of  the  inevitable  consequences.  It 
is  a  computation  beyond  the  power  of  man. 

A  thousand  years  will  not  see  the  sum  total 
of  this  peace  crime.  Millions  of  ill-nurtured  mothers — 
a  nation  of  stunted  children — proud  manhood  in 
bondage — the  brightest  lights  in  all  the  world  of 
science  dimmed  or  extinguished — civilization  in  a 
large  measure  throttled  and  dying  at  its  source. 

Were  these  peace  terms  that  we  have  before  us, 
that  Mr.  Wilson  had  in  mind,  by  which  he  sought  to 
detach  the  German  people  from  their  rulers — when  he 
gave  utterance  to  his  Fourteen  Points,  and  other 
important  utterances,  all  bearing  on  the  same  im- 
portant subject?  Examine,  carefully,  and  draw  your 
conclusion. 

The  Allies,  according  to  latest  advices  just  pub- 
lished, are  demanding  by  way  of  indemnity,  (they  call 
it  reparation),  thirty  billions  of  dollars,  in  round 
figures. 

Now,  first  of  all,  let  us  understand  what  this  sum 
means.  Did  I  say  "understand"  what  this  sum 
means?  Such  a  thing  is  impossible.  The  human 
mind  can  no  more  grasp  the  stupendous  significance 
of  these  figures,  than  it  can  comprehend  the  immen- 

[134] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

sity  of  space.  The  only  thing  we  can  do  is  to  make 
some  imperfect  comparisons. 

The  significance  of  this  colossal  sum  will  be  some- 
what understood  when  we  realize  that  the  total  valua- 
tion of  all  Belgium  is  slightly  in  excess  of  six  billions  of 
dollars.  In  other  words,  six  billions  of  dollars  would 
fully  pay  for  all  Belgian  lands,  all  buildings,  both 
public  and  private,  all  machinery,  railroads,  fur- 
niture, bric-a-brac,  art  treasure,  gold  coin,  in  other 
words,  the  entire  country  and  everything  of  value 
that  it  contains.  Germany,  it  will  be  seen,  is  com- 
pelled to  present  to  the  Allies,  an  amount  of  money 
sufficient  to  purchase  the  lands,  buildings,public  im- 
provements, art  treasures,  furniture,  and  everything 
of  value  sufficient  to  cover  not  merely  one,  but  five 
Belgiums. 

And  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  only  a  small 
portion  of  that  country  was  damaged,  and  very  few 
towns  really  destroyed.  Her  principal  cities  are  just 
as  intact  to-day  as  they  were  before  the  war.  The 
acreage  under  cultivation,  at  the  present  time,  will 
be  found  nearly  equal  to  that  of  1913. 

Almost  the  same  things  may  be  said  of  France.  In 
order  to  make  it  possible  for  the  mind  to  comprehend 
true  relationships,  as  between  colossal  sums,  I  men- 
tion the  fact  that  although  twelve  per  cent  of  France 
was  occupied  by  German  troops,  but  three  per  cent 
of  the  total  area  was  really  devastated,  and  two  per- 
cent partially  so. 

Even  in  the  worst  cases  of  devastation,  no  one 
can  say  that  the  property  cannot  be  turned  to  some 
account.  Now,assuming  that  four  per  cent  of  the  total 
area  of  France  has  been  completely  destroyed  be- 

[135] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

yond  hope  of  restoration,  then  it  is  evident  that 
France  lost  four  per  cent  of  her  total  wealth.  The 
total  wealth  of  France  in  1914  was  approximately 
$60,000,000,000.  Four  per  cent  of  this  amount  would 
equal  $2,400,000,000;  in  other  words,  $2,400,000,000 
would  be  the  total  amount  that  Germany  should,  in 
all  conscience,  be  called  upon  to  pay  for  the  restora- 
tion of  this  devastated  area; and  that  only  upon  proof 
of  her  war  guilt  and  the  innocence  of  her  opponents. 

The  above  comparative  figures  are  given  only  for 
the  puropse  of  showing  both  consistency  and  true 
proportion. 

Now  view  this  $30,000,000,000.  indemnity  from 
another  angle,  and  see  what  its  imposition  will  mean 
to  the  German  people. 

As  there  are  approximately  nine  million  families  in 
Germany  (after  the  loss  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  Silesia 
and  Poland)  this  would  mean  an  assessment  of  three 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  on  each  and  every  fam- 
ily. Before  the  war,  the  average  value  of  the  wealth  of 
each  family  was  approximately  $7,000,  and  the  present 
value,  with  war  depreciations,  etc.  cannot  be  even 
$6,000.,  so  it  will  be  seen  that  the  people  of  Germany 
are  called  upon  to  pay  to  the  Allies,  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  value  of  all  their  worldly  possessions. 

Now,  assume  that  the  Allies  are  generous  enough 
to  permit  Germany  to  pay  off  this  amount  in  thirty 
years,  at  5%  interest.*  This  would  be  a  total  yearly 
amount  of  $2,000,000,000  or  somewhat  in  excess  of 
$300.00  per  year  for  each  and  every  family.  The  sig- 

*As  this  book  goes  to  press  a  semi-official  statement  is  made  that  no 
interest  will  be  charged. 

[136] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

nificance  of  this  sum  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  the  average  earning  of  the  German  family,  prior 
to  1914,  was  between  five  and  six  hundred  dollars 
per  year. 

Now,  if  this  were  a  purely  local  tax,  going  into  the 
municipal,  state,  and  national  treasury,  which  in  turn 
would  be  spent  at  home  amongst  the  people  who 
paid  the  tax,  it  would  be  even  then  more  than  burden- 
some, even  if  there  were  no  other  taxes;  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  this  $300.00  per  year,  per  family, 
will  be  in  addition  to  the  present  burdensome  taxes, 
and  not  only  that,  but  every  dollar  of  it  must  be  spent 
abroad  and  not  a  penny  of  it  will  go  into  circulation 
at  home. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  a  country,  owing 
a  debt  of  $30,000,000,000  to  her  own  people,  which 
would  be  represented  in  bonds  held  by  all  classes  of 
the  people  upon  which  interest  would  be  collected, 
which  interest  would,  in  a  large  measure,  cover  any 
taxation  that  would  be  levied;  in  comparison  to  the 
same  burden  owing  to  outside  nations.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  total  must  be  spent  out  of  the  country,  for 
which  there  would  be  no  return  or  no  approach  to 
reciprocity. 

Now,  in  what  manner  must  this  $30,000, 000,000  be 
paid,  or  rather  this  $300.00  per  year,  for  each  family? 
As  it  cannot  be  paid  in  money,  it  must  be  paid  in 
goods — products.  In  other  words,  the  German  people 
must  send  abroad,  each  year  for  thirty  years,  two 
billion,  dollars  worth  of  her  sur-products  in  excess  of 

[137] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

what  she  brings  in,  or,  in  other  words,  each  family 
on  an  average,  must  send  out  $300.00  worth  of  things 
to  eat  and  to  wear,  and  material  for  shelter,  over 
and  above  what  she  requires  to  dress  herself,  feed 
herself  and  shelter  herself. 

As  the  savings  of  each  average  family  in  the  nation, 
under  normal  conditions,  is  very  small,  (In  Germany 
would  not  exceed  $100.00,  after  all  requirements  had 
been  met),  it  will  be  seen,  even  under  the  most  favo- 
rable conditions,  were  each  family  to  be  compelled  to 
send  abroad,  $300.00  worth  of  food,  clothing  and  other 
materials,  from  which  no  return  would  be  received, 
what  indescribable  distress  and  want  would  ensue. 
That  being  so,  what  imagination  is  necessary  to 
picture  the  want,  sufferings  and  degradation  that 
will  obtain  throughout  Germany,  when  the  Allies  will 
take  their  tribute  from  the  meagre  and  depleted 
supplies,  which  meagreness  will  be  inevitable  for  a 
generation,  owing  to  the  havoc  of  war. 

But  if  the  above  were  the  sum  total  of  the  infamy 
of  the  peace,  one  might  hope  to  find  something  of  an 
extenuating  nature,  which  would  soften  and  tone 
down  its  uglier  aspects.  On  the  contrary,  the  farther 
we  penetrate  into  the  subterranean  passages  of  this 
Chamber  of  Horrors,  the  more  evidence  we  find  of 
the  work  of  the  assassin,  of  a  premeditated,  organized, 
systematic,  and  cowardly  crime. 

They  had  not  only  placed  on  the  backs  of  the  ema- 
ciated and  impoverished  German  people,  guilty  and 
innocent  alike,  a  load  which  will  crush  them  to  the 
earth;  but  not  content  with  this,  they  have  cut  off 
the  hands  and  feet  of  their  victims,  so  that  they  can 

[138] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

neither  help  themselves,  nor  go  forward  with  their 
burden. 

They  have  done  this  in  a  manner  which  I  will 
attempt  to  relate  and  describe. 

Now,  the  great  sinuous  and  flexible  arm  which 
Germany  had  stretched  out  to  nearly  every  portion 
of  the  habitable  globe,  was  her  merchant  marine.  By 
means  of  this,  she  delivered  promptly,  and  at  the 
lowest  possible  cost,  the  proceeds  of  her  great  fac- 
tories, her  huge  blast-furnaces,  her  cotton  mills,  with 
their  millions  of  spindles,  her  laboratories  and  her 
mines ;  and  in  return,  came  back  laden  with  the  raw 
material,  which  would  again  feed  the  great  mouths 
of  her  roaring  and  smoking  industries.  Behind  this 
great  arm,  as  it  moved  to  and  fro,  backward  and  for- 
ward, over  the  face  of  the  earth,  were  the  great  Ger- 
man people,  with  their  millions  of  skilled  mechanics, 
their  army  of  research  workers,  whose  night  lamps 
only  went  out  with  the  stars;  a  nation  devoted  to 
industry,  and  therefore  to  the  service  of  mankind. 

It  was  evident,  therefore,  that  this  powerful,  ef- 
ficient and  purposeful  machine  would  drive  antiqua- 
ted and  time-serving,  self-satisfied  competitors,  out 
of  the  world  market,  and  thereby  cause  trade  jeal- 
ousy jealousies  which  always  make  wars,  a  possibility. 

As  has  been  stated  previously,  the  nation 
that  suffered  most  from  German  competition,  was 
Great  Britain.  It  was  quite  natural  and  quite  char- 
acteristic of  that  nation  when,  at  the  peace  confer- 
ence and  when  Germany  lay  helpless  on  the  operating 
table,  with  Doctor  Woodrow  Wilson  of  Washington, 
D.C.,that  eminent  phsychologist  and  heart  and  brain 
specialist,  administering  the  ether,  and  Surgeon 

[139] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

Clemenceau  of  Paris,  France,  a  doctor  of  the  old 
school,  who  believes  in  heroic  methods  of  surgery  and 
blood-letting,  using  the  knife,  and  that  world  re- 
nowned general  practitioner,  Dr.  Lloyd  George  of 
London,  England,  a  graduate  of  all  schools,  regular 
and  irregular,  a  trance  medium  of  high  order,  holding 
the  bucket  which  is  to  receive  the  blood  and  carvings 
of  the  victim — it  was  quite  natural  that  Dr.  Lloyd 
George,  after  seeing  Germany  disemboweled  for  the 
benefit  of  France,  that  he  suggest  to  the  operator 
that  Germany's  arm — her  merchant  marine  arm, 
should  be  cut  off  at  the  shoulder.  As  Dr.  Wilson 
was  a  metaphysician  and  anaesthetist  and  not  a  sur- 
geon, no  doubt  he  was  not  seriously  consulted  as  to 
this,  by  his  colleagues;  however,  the  arm  was  ampu- 
tated, close  to  the  shoulder. 

By  this  surgical  operation,  the  Allies  destroyed 
Germany's  merchant  marine;  which  was  a  felling 
blow  at  her  economic  life  and  existence.  The  com- 
pleteness by  which  this  act  was  performed,  will  be 
seen  from  the  following: 

Germany  is  to  deliver  to  the  Allies,  all  merchant 
vessels  of  over  1,600  tons,  that  she  possesses,  and  one- 
half  of  all  vessels,  between  1,000  and  1,600  tons,  not 
counting  trawlers  and  other  minor  craft.  This  means 
the  utter  impossibility  of  Germany  doing  any  bus- 
iness, by  water,  with  the  rest  of  the  world;  unless 
by  using  the  ships  of  other  nations. 

At  the  present  time,  owing  to  shortage  of  ships, 
other  nations  are  consequently  short  of  sea  trans- 
portation facilities  and  it  will  be  easily  understood 
what  price  Germany  will  have  to  pay  for  such  service, 
and  how  she  is  likely  to  be  served. 

[140] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Out  of  this  loot,  America  gets  29  of  the  best  freight 
and  passenger  vessels  to  be  found  in  any  harbor  of  the 
world,  and  this  is  but  a  fragment  of  the  whole.  Of 
this  fleet  is  the  George  Washington,  of  25,000  tons 
displacement,  which  will  go  down  in  history  as  the 
vessel  which  carried  Woodrow  Wilson  to  his  political 
graveyard;  and  buried  with  him  the  fondest  hopes 
of  mankind.  In  addition  to  this  vessel,  is  the  Vater- 
land  of  54,000  tons,  the  world's  largest  and  most 
beautiful  ship,  and  then  there  is  the  magnificent 
Lloyd  creation — the  Kronprinzessen  Cecile. 

Thus,  with  one  stroke,  that  which  has  been  the 
object  of  Germany's  pride  and  her  rivals  envy,  has 
been  taken  from  her — leaving  her  poor  indeed — but 
how  has  it  robbed  mankind? 

In  vain  will  the  little  children  of  the  world,  look 
for  the  playthings  that  only  those  who  knew  the  heart 
of  a  child,  could  produce.  Silent  as  the  grave,  will 
be  that  land  of  song  and  music,  the  refrain  of  which 
echoed  around  the  world :  God's  silvery  voice  speak- 
ing to  the  souls  of  men.  The  world  will  look  in  vain, 
for  years  to  come,  for  those  mighty  engines  of  steam 
and  electricity,  which  removes  mountains  and  turns 
the  desert  into  the  bower  and  the  brook.  From 
whence  will  come  those  countless  instruments  and 
inventions,  by  the  cunning  of  which,  we  almost  can 
interpret  and  register  the  unspoken  thoughts  of  men ; 
or  to  whom  will  we  look  to  restore  this  drab  and  dreary 
world  to  the  varied  tints  of  the  rainbow,  or  the  colors 
of  the  bird  and  butterfly? 

That  servant  of  the  world  is  gone;  that  servant 
who,  by  night  and  day,  for  fifty  years  or  more,  by 
her  industry  and  fair  dealings  has  added  to  human 

[141] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

pleasure,  human  knowledge  and  human  comfort — is 
gone.  The  world  will  look  long  for  the  coming  of  her 
like  again. 

It  is  known  that  the  immense  commercial  body  of 
Germany  sat  firmly  on  two  great  legs — coal  and  iron. 
With  these  she  was  moving  forward  commercially,  at 
a  rate,  at  which  she  was  rapidly  out-distancing  all  ri- 
vals. For  the  benefit  of  France,  directly,  and  for  the 
trade  security  of  Britain,  indirectly,  these  mighty  legs 
must  be  cutoff.  In  doing  this,  it  must  be  said  that  the 
surgeons  did  not  perform  as  clean  a  job  as  in  the  case 
of  the  amputation  of  Germany's  arm;  an  axe  evi- 
dently being  used  instead  of  a  knife.  They  mutilated 
the  legs  more  or  less,  but  left  sufficient  stumps  upon 
which  the  nation  could  hobble  around  within  a  very 
narrow  area,  in  central  Europe. 

We  can  see  in  our  mind's  eye  this  operation  being 
performed.  Germany  is  again  brought  to  the  oper- 
ation room  weak  from  her  previous  operations;  Pro- 
fessor Wilson  carrying  the  ether,  Clemenceau  the  axe, 
and  Lloyd  George  the  bucket. 

The  victim  is  brought  into  an  amphitheatre,  in 
which  there  are  hundreds  of  excited,  gesticulating 
men,  representing  nearly  every  nation  of  the  civilized 
world.  Men  alone  are  present.  Even  the  nurse,  that 
redeeming  type  of  our  civilization,  with  her  soft  foot- 
steps, like  unto  the  rustle  of  an  angel  wing — is  not 
there.  The  field  is  being  made  ready  for  her  future 
labors. 

What  a  picture  we  have  before  us,  as  we  see  the 
victim,  stretched  on  the  table,  gagged,  and  bound; 
the  three  men  standing  near  and  the  emissaries  of 
evil  from  every  land  looking  on.  When  will  the 

[142] 


OP  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

world  bring  forth  an  artist  who  will  put  on  canvas 
the  faces  of  these  men  and  this  scene;  as  that  great 
artist  who  pictured  the  faces  in  that  masterpiece — 
"Christ  before  Pilate?  "  JJ 

We  see  Wilson  with  his  classic,  serious  face,  nervous 
and  apprehensive,  ill-fitted  to  his  surroundings;  and 
Lloyd  George,  that  personification  of  volcanic  energy, 
shifty  as  a  toreador,  agile  as  an  Arabian  swordsman, 
cruel  as  Caesar,  and  at  times  as  gentle  as  the  heart  of 
a  woman,  standing  there  smiling  and  complacent; 
and  beside  him  Clemenceau,  that  embodiment  of  the 
beast,  the  word  "executioner",  written  into  every 
line  of  his  countenance — in  every  smile,  as  in  every 
frown;  cruel,  merciless  and  unforgiving;  the  blood  of 
the  middle  ages,  coursing  through  twentieth  century 
veins,  unable  and  unwilling  to  see  anything  but  in 
terms  of  France — blind  and  deaf  alike  to  every  appeal 
of  reason  and  every  dictate  of  humanity. 

The  grim  business  is  soon  over-these  two  great  legs 
— coal  and  iron — upon  which  German  commercial 
supremacy  rested,  are  removed. 

For  a  number  of  years  to  come,  Germany  is  to 
deliver  to  the  Allies  the  stupendous  sum  of  forty 
million  tons  of  coal  annually.  As  there  are  but  nine 
million  families  in  Germany,  this  means  that  each 
family  on  an  average  must  provide  for  the  Allies 
more  than  four  tons  of  coal.  How  many  great  fur- 
naces will  go  out,  how  many  million  families  will  go 
short  of  fuel,  during  the  rigorous  German  winters, 
the  dullest  imagination  may  comprehend. 

The  same  thing  applies  to  iron.  Germany  obtained 
the  larger  portion  of  her  iron  ore  fromAlsace-Lorraine. 
Her  industries  scattered  all  over  the  entire  country, 

[143] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

were  created  and  established  in  the  belief  that  this 
supply  would  be  permanent.  Alsace-Lorraine  now 
goes  back  to  France — the  justice  of  which  we  have 
gone  into,  in  another  chapter. 

At  present,  and  for  years  to  come,  France  will 
be  unable  to  avail  herself  of  this  new  supply  of  iron 
ore,  owing  to  her  lack  of  furnaces  and  factories  and 
the  skilled  workmen  necessary  to  operate  them.  Ger- 
many has  these  furnaces  and  factories  and  the  talent 
to  operate  them.  The  world  is  suffering  from  a  lack 
of  finished  steel  and  iron.  At  one  stroke,  this  great 
world  supply  is  cut  off — without  the  slightest  re- 
gard for  world  needs;  the  only  thought  being  the 
destruction  of  Germany  and  all  her  industries. 

In  America  we  have  seen  isolated  examples  of 
suffering,  caused  by  the  closing  down  of  one  particular 
industry,  but  this  soon  would  be  overcome  by  other 
industries  taking  their  place;  or  if  that  did  not  occur, 
the  workers  could  soon  take  other  positions,  or  move 
to  nearby  towns  and  be  quickly  at  work  again.  But 
imagine  the  deplorable  and  hopeless  condition,  and 
the  want  and  degradation  that  will  follow,  when  the 
industries  of  a  whole  country  are  artificially  paralyzed 
and  that,  without  hope  of  remedy. 

The  next  operation  to  be  performed  was  the  re- 
lieving of  Germany  of  her  colonies.  This,  though 
cruel, was  not  vital  to  Germany.  It  is  true,  that  in  this, 
the  Allies  exacted  their  pound  of  flesh,  but  it  was  not 
the  flesh  from  off  the  German  parent  body,  but  rather 
the  appropriation  of  her  children.  The  loss  there- 
fore, was  more  sentimental  than  real — not  vital  as 
in  the  case  of  the  loss  of  her  merchant  marine,  her 
iron,  and  her  coal. 

[144] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Under  Article  119,  Germany  cedes  all  her  right  and 
title  to  her  overseas  possessions.  To  make  matters 
worse  for  her,she  loses  not  only  her  title  to  these  colo- 
nies, but  she  is  still  responsible  for  any  claims  or 
debts  standing  against  these  colonies,  which  were  in- 
curred in  process  of  development,  or  otherwise.  In 
addition  to  this,  we  find  the  following  iniquitous 
feature:  "The  Allies  and  Associated  Powers  reserve 
the  right  to  retain  and  liquidate,  all  property,  rights, 
and  interests  belonging  at  the  date  of  the  coming 
into  force,  of  the  present  treaty,  to  German  nationals 
or  companies  controlled  by  them  in  the  German  colo- 
nies." 

Thus  Germany  is  swept  clean  of  her  colonies, 
and  the  citizens  of  these  colonies  may  be  deprived 
of  their  rights  without  redress.  The  same  provision 
applies  to  Alsace-Lorraine.  By  the  treaty,  France 
may  confiscate  the  property  of  any  German  resident 
at  will. 

In  addition  to  this,  Germany  must  pay  off  any 
debts  incurred  before  the  war,  which  now  cover 
Alsace-Lorraine,  money  spent  in  the  public  improve- 
ments, etc.  of  these  provinces. 

The  unbearable  financial  burden,  already  described, 
that  has  been  put  on  the  back  of  Germany,  and  the 
amputations,  which  will  render  her  almost  helpless, 
have  been  also  supplemented  by  mutilations  and  in- 
dignities, for  number,  and  diabolical  cunning,  and 
disregard  for  justice,  all  of  which  are  without  paral- 
lel in  history.  They  have  fastened  these  unfortunate 
people  to  the  Cross  by  a  thousand  and  one  nails,  in 
addition  to  the  cruel,  iron  spikes,  already  described. 

[145] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

I  have  another  task  to  perform  aside  from  showing 
the  war  guilt  and  peace  crimes  of  the  Allies  and  there 
fore  must  bring  this  chapter  to  a  close. 

Volumes  could  be  written  if  detail  were  under- 
taken. 

I  will  simply  ask  the  reader  to  consider  but  a  few 
of  the  minor  strands  by  which,in  addition  to  the  spikes 
and  the  nails,  Germany  is  fastened  to  the  Cross. 

Examine  the  tariff  provisions  by  which  Germany 
has  to  receive  goods  without  being  permitted  to  exact 
duty,  and  does  not  receive  the  same  privilege  in 
return;  her  great  inland  waterway  system  under  the 
control  of  her  enemies;  the  west  bank  of  the  Rhine 
subject  to  their  tariff  control,  and  other  regulations  of 
the  victors;  day  and  night  at  the  mercy  of  the  so- 
called  Reparation  Commission,  made  to  pass  any  laws 
or  do  any  service  that  these  men,  with  their  unlimited 
powers,  backed  by  menacing  armies,  may  dictate. 

And  the  relation  of  this  Instrument  to  Germany 
forms  only  a  part  of  the  blight  cast  upon  the  world 
by  this  hand  of  Death.  It  ignores  every  element  of 
economic  law,  decapitates  with  a  stroke,  one  of  the 
world's  greatest  reservoirs  of  supply,  disregards 
human  trends  and  customs,  and  tears  asunder  that 
which  has  been  cemented  by  the  centuries,  leaving 
peace  little  less  to  be  desired  than  war. 

The  Versailles  Agreement  was  arrived  at  after  six 
months  of  plotting  and  intrigue,  in  an  atmosphere  of 
greed,  hate,  falsehoood,  and  revenge.  It  was  con- 
ceived in  lust  and  born  of  lies.  It  is  the  foul  creature 
of  the  night. 

Had  all  the  German  people  been  guilty,  and  the 
Allies  as  innocent  as  the  angels,  still  this  treaty 

[146] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

would  have  been  an  abomination  because  it  usurps 
the  functions  of  Providence,  in  that  it  wreaks  ven- 
geance; and  has  it  not  been  proclaimed  "Vengeance 
is  mine,  saith  the  Lord?  " 

But  how  is  this  great  account  to  be  balanced?  That 
it  will — be  assured.  The  mills  of  the  gods  may  grind 
out  this  grist  slowly,  or  they  may  vomit  it  out  like 
an  earthquake.  Already,  ominous  subterraneous 
rumbles  are  being  heard. 

It  is  said  that  before  an  earthquake  takes  place, 
cattle  become  uneasy,  birds  fly  wildly  to  and  fro, 
all  living  things  except  men  become  excited  and 
apprehensive.  In  a  mysterious  way,  they  sense  com- 
ing danger. 

His  eyes  are  blind,  indeed,  who  does  not  see  the 
dark  clouds  gathering  on  the  horizon;  and  deaf  are 
those  ears  that  do  not  hear  the  rumbles  of  natures 
gathering  physical  and  spiritual  forces.  Humanity 
everywhere  is  sensing  danger.  They  realize  that  all 
is  not  well.  The  civilization  of  other  days,  through 
injustice,  although  dwelling  in  the  security  of  hewn 
rocks,  was  swept  away,  and  likewise  our  civilization, 
less  secure  in  our  skyscrapers  will,  if  we  do  not  take 
warning,  collapse  like  a  house  of  cards. 

To-day,  our  so-called  civilization  is  on  trial — on 
trial  before  the  great  Judge  of  the  Universe.  It  is 
on  trial  like  other  civilizations  that  have  gone  before, 
and  have  been  found  wanting.  If  there  is  not  enough 
righteousness  in  this  world — enough  Christian  spirit, 
which  will  rise  and  destroy  the  evil  of  this  Peace— 
our  civilization  like  other  civilizations  will  be  over- 
turned and  we  shall  be  commanded  to  build  on  new 
foundations — other  than  greed  and  hate. 

[147] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

God  will  not  permit  this  inequity.  He  will  not 
permit  a  new  edifice  to  be  erected — after  the  plan 
of  these  Versailles  taskmasters,  which  has  for  a  foun- 
dation, injustice,  and  a  superstructure — to  be  made 
of  human  bones — cemented  by  human  blood  and 
tears. 


"And  the  Kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men 
and  the  rich  men,  and  the  captains,  and  the  mighty 
men,  and  every  bond  man,  and  every  free  man,  hid 
themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  moun- 
tains; and  said  to  the  mountains  and  the  rocks:  Tall 
on  us,  and  hide  us  fron  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth 
on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb ;  for 
the  great  day  of  His  wrath  is  come;  and  who  shall 
be  able  to  stand?  " 


[148] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  LESSONS  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

Out  of  this  deluge  of  blood,  from  this  storm  of  fire 
that  had  swept  Europe,  will  the  peoples  of  the  world 
learn  a  lesson,  will  they  get  a  new  vision,  will  they  see 
and  understand  those  accursed  forces  that  are  en- 
slaving mankind,  leading  nations,  like  herds  of  cattle, 
to  slaughter,  humanity  made  to  march  in  multitudes 
through  highways  infested  with  thieves,  their  hands 
tied  and  eyes  blindfolded,  led  on  either  by  a  pigmy 
king,  an  ambitious  minister  of  state,  or  a  so-called 
"Constitutional  Representative  of  the  people" — 
the  president  of  a  republic. 

The  people  of  every  nation  that  entered  the  great 
war,  were  grossly  misled,  misrepresented  and  de- 
ceived, whether  their  form  of  government  was  an 
autocracy,  constitutional  monarchy,  or  a  republic. 

In  no  case  had  the  people  of  any  country  anything 
whatsoever  to  say  regarding  their  destiny — this  was 
just  as  true  of  America  as  it  was  of  Russia,  Germany, 
France  or  Britain. 

In  no  case  were  the  people  consulted — not  one.  In 
America,  like  all  the  rest,  the  will  of  one  man  was 
supreme. 

In  no  instance  did  the  people  of  any  nation  want 
war.  The  people  of  Russia  did  not  want  war,  nor 
the  people  of  Germany  nor  of  France  nor  of  Britain, 
much  less  America.  They  desired  peace.  They 
wished  to  be  left  alone  to  till  their  lands,  operate 
their  factories,  educate  their  children,  and  live  their 
lives  in  peace. 

[149] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

But,  you  say,  they  all  entered  the  war  and  fought, 
and  this  being  so  they  must  have  been  willing  and 
eager  to  do  so.  That  conclusion  I  will  not  question. 
We  have  here  the  most  perplexing  problem  in  national 
psychology,  a  phenomenon,  difficult  to  either  dissect 
or  analyze. 

We  know,  for  instance,  the  power  of  electricity; 
but  we  cannot  analyze  it.  Every  man  who  wields 
the  sceptre  of  power  in  a  nation,  whether  he  be  Czar, 
Kaiser,  King  or  President,  knows  the  existence  of  a 
hidden,  latent  national  force  and  he  realizes  how  he 
can  chain  it  to  his  will  and  desire.  In  order  to  bring 
this  power  of  so-called  national  patriotism  into  action, 
he  first  commits  his  country  to  a  foreign  program; 
through  the  medium  of  the  press  fills  the  public  mind 
with  a  sense  of  danger;  arouses  a  spirit  of  prejudice 
and  ill-will;  starts  the  flags  waving  and  the  bands 
playing  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time  a  wave  of 
frenzy  passes  over  the  land  and  soon  the  people  are 
prepared  for  a  blood  sacrifice. 

This  is  precisely  what  took  place,  first  in  Russia, 
then  in  Germany  and  France,  then  in  England  and  her 
colonies  and  afterwards,  to  as  marked  a  degree,  in 
America. 

To-day  the  world  is  suffering  from  the  result  of 
a  patriotic  debauch.  To-day  every  country  is  suf- 
fering from  the  sin  of  idolatry — the  worship  of  na- 
tionality— the  sin  of  flag  worship.  So  long  as  this 
is  so,  "the  man  on  horseback"  is  sure  of  his  following; 
the  king  knows  where  he  can  get  his  recruits;  an 
ambitious  autocratic  president  of  a  republic  knows 
upon  whose  shoulders  he  may  step  towards  "a  Place 
in  the  Sun." 

[150] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

If  ultra-patriotism  is  a  virtue  in  a  people,  then  all 
the  warring  countries  are  on  an  equality — the  Ger- 
mans being  as  fervent  in  their  homage  and  devotion 
to  their  flag  as  the  Americans  or  the  British  or  the 
French.  But  it  is  not  a  virtue  in  a  people — it  is  a 
national  sin — it  is  a  species  of  pagan  idolatry,  a 
sin  that  has  brought  its  punishment  down  through 
the  history  of  mankind — and  never  more  swift  and 
certain  and  retributive  than  during  the  late  war. 

There  is  to-day  in  America  more  real,  live  and  sin- 
cere reverence  for  the  American  flag  than  there  is  for 
the  Cross  which  is  symbolic  of  Christ.  I  venture  to 
say  that,  if  in  the  presence  of  a  crowd,  a  man  threw 
a  stone  through  a  church  window,  even  a  window  in 
which  is  inscribed  the  words  of  Christ,  the  worst  that 
would  happen  to  him  is  that  he  might  be  handed  over 
to  the  police.  But  let  the  same  man  cast  a  missile  ac 
the  American  flag  and  instantly  he  would  be  torn 
almost  limb  from  limb.  There  is  no  question  regard- 
ing the  truth  of  that. 

Those  who  attended  war  meetings  held  in  the  dif- 
ferent American  churches  must  have,  on  reflection, 
been  astounded  at  what  they  heard  and  saw.  The 
usual  religious  hymns  would  be  sung  in  order  to  im- 
press the  people  with  the  sacredness  of  their  sur- 
roundings. These  would  be  sung  in  a  very  perfunc- 
tory, if  not  a  half-hearted  way.  But  note  the  change 
in  the  demeanor  and  spirit  of  the  audience  when  the 
"Star  Spangled  Banner"  or  "America"  would  be  sung. 
What  sparkling  eyes — what  heaving  breasts! 

The  roof  would  almost  raise  with  the  fiery  fervor 
of  the  audience.  How  joyfully  they  would  sing  "My 
country  'tis  of  thee,  sweet  land  of  liberty",  and  that, 

[151] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

perhaps,  after  some  of  these  same  people  had  recently 
assisted  in  tarring  and  feathering  some  unfortunate 
who  refuse  to  buy  Liberty  Bonds  or  who,  without 
due  consideration  for  consequences,  publicly  quoted 
such  antiquated  sayings  as  these:  "He  who  is  with- 
out sin,  cast  the  first  stone",  or  "Blessed  are  the 
peace-makers"  or,  perchance  "Vengeance  is  mine, 
saith  the  Lord." 

In  this,  the  last  chapter,  I  will  endeavor  to  point 
out  the  three  things  that  the  peoples  of  the  world  must 
do  in  order  to  insure  world  peace. 

(1)  They  must  cease  the  idolatrous  worship  of  flags 
and  nationalities  and  substitute  internation  based  on 
the  brotherhood  of  man. 

(2)  International  statesmen  must  restore  the  world's 
equilibrium  by  creating  confidence  based  on  justice. 

There  are  evidences  to  be  found  in  every  country  of 
a  rising  tide  setting  in,  which  if  not  checked  by  wise 
regulation  and  international  adjustments,  will  carry 
away  existing  authority  as  the  raging  mountain  tor- 
rent sweeps  away  dykes  and  dams  as  though  they 
were  handfuls  of  straw.  The  waters  are  disturbed 
and  troubled  in  all  countries,  while  in  others  the  lands 
are  flooded  by  revolutions  and  the  people  are  being 
submerged.  Ancient  land-marks,  long  thought  secure, 
have  been  swept  away  or  obliterated. 

Before  the  world  can  have  true  peace,  the  peoples 
of  the  different  nations  must  insist  upon  the  wiping 
out  of  all  international  agreements  which  are  based 
on  injustice  and  maintained  by  autocratic  force. 

The  principal  of  these,  of  course,  is  the  Versailles 
peace  treaty,  by  which  is  sought  the  enslavement  of 
the  German  people. 

[152] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

Whether  the  destruction  of  this  enormity  may 
come  as  a  result  of  evolution  or  revolution,  it  is  not 
my  purpose  to  endeavor  to  forecast.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  spirit  growing  amongst  the  workers  and  pro- 
ducers of  all  lands  which  recognizes  the  common 
brotherhood  of  labor,  and  a  sense  of  justice  which  is 
not  circumscribed  by  national  frontiers  or  artificially 
made  boundries,  which  will  demand  that  all  forms  of 
slavery  of  their  fellows,  no  matter  where  existing, 
must  be  destroyed. 

The  fate  of  many  a  ship  of  state,  with  their  precious 
cargoes,  will  depend  on  how  their  Captains  interpret 
the  restless  barometer  and  read  aright  these  signs  in 
the  heavens — or  whether  they  will  mistake  the  tokens 
of  an  incipient  storm  for  the  warning  of  an  impending 
tornado. 

(3)  The  people  must  have  complete  control  over  their 
own  destiny,  as  in  a  true  democracy;  a  state  where 
the  will  of  the  people,  not  a  select  few,  is  supreme. 

There  is  not  a  democracy  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
to-day.  There  is  not  one  country  in  which  the  people 
rule.  America  is  not  a  democracy — it  is  a  semi- 
autocracy  known  as  a  republic.  A  republic  in  many 
respects  is  one  of  the  most  vicious  forms  of  govern- 
ment extant.  Under  this  form  of  government  the 
people  are  constantly  bled,  misled  and  misrepre- 
sented. 

In  this  country  the  people  are  at  the  mercy  of  two 
soulless  autocratic  machines,  and  are  ruled  by  these. 
It  is  true  that  we  have  the  privilege  of  temporarily 
getting  rid  of  one  autocratic  machine  at  the  expi- 
ration of  each  two  or  four  years  and  substituting 
another  one  therefor,  but  that  process  has  its  dis- 

[153] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

advantages  in  that  we  discard  a  sleek  and  fatted  crew 
for  a  lean  and  hungry  one.  So  under  this  blessed 
republican  form  of  government,  we  are  engaged  year 
after  year  in  the  task  of  kicking  the  lazy,  dishonest, 
over-fat  republican  aggregation  out  of  the  back  door 
and  letting  in  the  hungry,  whining  and  forlorn  demo- 
cratic contingent  at  the  front  door;  and  no  sooner 
than  this  is  done  than  the  republican  horde  takes  a 
position  in  waiting  at  the  front  door,  knowing  full 
well  that  in  a  certain  time  the  democratic  contin- 
gent will  disgrace  itself  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  and 
be  kicked  out  and  then  the  waiting  republicans  re-en- 
ter, not  because  they  are  wanted,  but  for  the 
reason  that  under  our  present  form  of  government 
we  must  endure  either  one  or  the  other.  As  a  protest 
against  this  farce,  millions  of  reputable  citizens  will 
not  walk  across  the  street  to  record  their  votes. 

We  elect  our  so-called  representatives  for  two  or 
four  years.  During  the  election  campaign  all  manner 
of  promises  are  made — only  to  be  broken. 

Have  you  ever  observed  the  practical  workings  of 
this  so-called  "Representative"  Government  of  ours, 
at  short  range — at  Washington?  If  you  have,  you  will 
marvel  that  the  American  people  have  not  long  ago 
gone  bankrupt  or  become  revolutionists. 

What  spectacle  do  we  observe  at  the  national  capi- 
tol?  Here  we  find  four  or  five  hundred  men,  assem- 
bled from  every  state  in  the  union,  given  absolute 
power  under  the  constitution  to  enact  such  laws  as 
they  will,  spend  such  amounts  of  money  as  they  desire, 
and  commit  the  people  to  a  thousand  and  one  obli- 
gations, enterprises  and  covenants  both  at  home 
and  abroad. 

[154] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

And  who  are  these  men  and  what  influences  sur- 
round them? 

They  are  usually  of  two  classes — business  or  profes- 
sional men  who  have  been  failures  in  their  business 
or  profession;  or  if  not  these,  we  have  the  represent- 
atives of  "interests" — commercial  and  otherwise. 

The  latter  class  are  usually  in  the  pay  of  these 
"interests"  and  the  former  impecunious  class,  are 
recipients  of  tips,  favors  and  bribes,  the  amounts  of 
these  depending  on  how  badly  the  "interests"  are 
in  need  of  legislative  assistance. 

Come  with  me,  in  imagination,  to  Washington,  the 
seat  of  your  national  government;  and  watch  the 
operation  of  that  great  machine  that  makes  your  laws, 
levies  your  taxes,  expends  your  money,  makes  war 
and  declares  peace,  and  does  a  thousand  and  one 
things  which  affect  you  at  every  turn  and  from  every 
angle. 

Your  "representative"  is  there.  You  see  him  seated 
at  his  little  desk,  surrounded  by  other  little  desks  at 
which  other  men  are  sitting.  The  legislative  machine 
is  running  at  full  speed,  accompanied  by  a  strange 
and  unfamilar  hum.  Your  ears  are  not  yet  in 
tune  with  your  surroundings.  Although  reasonably 
near,  you  only  catch  an  occasional  word,  amid  the 
babble  and  confusion.  You  are  as  near  the  different 
speakers  as  your  "representative"  is,  and  you  marvel 
at  what  manner  of  ears  he  has,  if  they  are  able  to 
transmit  to  the  brain  all  that  has  been  said.  You 
give  up  the  hopeless  task  of  finding  out  what  it  is 
all  about  and  to  assure  yourself,  you  fasten  your  eyes 
again  on  your  "representative".  You  study  his  coun- 
tenance. You  try  to  divine  from  his  face  the  impor- 

[155] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

tance  of  the  occasion  and  the  proceedings.  He  yawns, 
he  looks  bored,  he  shifts  uneasily  in  his  seat,  he  mani- 
cures his  nails;  and  while  another  "representative" 
is  pounding  a  desk,  impressing  the  importance  of  his 
utterances,  your  "representative"  is  seen  stooping 
over  and  relating  to  his  desk  mate,  what  you  suspect 
is  either  a  funny  joke  or  a  good  story. 

Hour  after  hour  passes  away  and  you  have  yet  to 
find  one  expression  of  either  interest  in  the  proceed- 
ings or  quickened  human  intelligence  in  the  face  of 
your  "representative".  The  House  is  at  last  ad- 
journed for  the  night.  Bored  and  bedraggled,  your 
"representative"  goes  out  into  the  darkness,  with 
whom  and  where,  Heaven  alone  knows,  and  Heaven, 
for  some  unknown  reason,  does  not  always  tell  the 
secrets  of  a  Congressman. 

You  go  to  your  hotel  feeling  that  something  was 
"done"  at  the  session — but  you  have  no  intelligent 
idea  what  it  was.  You  open  up  the  morning  paper 
and  to  your  amazement  you  find  that  the  night  pre- 
vious, two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  were 
appropriated,  taxes  involving  millions  were  levied  and 
several  laws  vitally  affecting  every  man,  woman  and 
child  in  America,  were  passed. 

Now,  follow  this  man  out  into  the  night,  under 
cover  of  the  darkness  of  which,  the  beasts  and  rep- 
tiles of  the  jungle  come  forth  to  meet  their  prey.  This 
man  carries  with  him  the  purse-strings  of  the  nation, 
strings  that  open  at  will  the  overflowing  ornate  wallet 
of  the  rich  and  the  meagre  earnings  and  savings  of  the 
poor — tied  in  the  discarded  rags  of  poverty.  He 
carries  with  him  not  only  this,  but  a  thousand  and 
one  other  powers  and  privileges  which,  when  iused  or 

[156] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

put  in  operation  have  power  for  good  and  evil,  almost 
beyond  human  imagination.  No  armed  caravan, 
crossing  the  desert  waste,  bearing  to  civilization, 
rubies,  diamonds  and  pearls  beyond  the  wealth  of 
Croesus,  is  comparable  to  the  treasure  borne  by  this 
man — your  "representative",  as  he  disappeared  into 
the  darkness — into  the  jungle. 

Ask  yourself,  seriously,  what  hand  feeds  these 
creatures  of  the  night — these  ravenous  beasts  of  prey 
—the  number  of  which  is  legion;  or  who  feeds  that 
myriad  aggregation  of  lizards  that  infest  not  only  the 
streets,  depots  and  hotels  of  Washington,  but  every 
wing  and  corridor  of  the  Capitol  as  well.  The  hand 
that  feeds  these  creatures  is  the  hand  of  your  "repre- 
sentative"— not  only  these  creatures,  but  the  "inter- 
ests" that  stand  back  of  them.  You  have  given,  with- 
out question,  the  power  to  do  this.  Take  away  this 
power  (in  a  way  that  I  will  presently  indicate)  and 
before  twenty-four  hours  after  this  power  has  been 
taken  away  you  would  see  such  an  exodus  of  these 
beasts  and  reptiles  from  Washington,  as  would  tax 
every  railroad  to  its  limit. 

To  eradicate  the  evils  of  our  so-called  representative 
system,  means  must  be  taken  to  curtail  those  abso- 
lute powers  that  the  American  people  have  placed  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  represent  them.*  The  people 
must  be  the  final  judge  as  to  the  wisdom  or  neces- 
sity of  any  and  all  important  legislation. 

The  writer  recently  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  a  kindly  reference  made 
to  the  desirability  of  a  Republican,  as  compared  to  a  Democratic  form  of 
government.  The  Honorable  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  ex-Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Treasury,  a  statesman  of  the  old  school  (who  by  the  way,  unlike  most 
of  his  associates,  has  not  outlived  his  usefulness)  asked  his  audience  which 
procedure  would  prove  more  satisfactory  for  the  people,  in  case,  for  instance 
in  the  building  of  a  ship;for  the  people  to  delegate  men  who  know  all  about  ships 

[157] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

How  this  may  be  done  without  destroying  the 
structure  of  our  present  form  of  government,  I  will 
attempt  to  outline. 

My  proposition  is,  that  our  government  consist  of 
four  branches  instead  of  three,  as  at  present.  Instead 
of  the  Legislative,  the  Executive  and  the  Judicial,  as 
now  obtains,  we  should  have  four  branches,  namely : 
The  Initiative,  the  Public  Approval,  the  Executive 
and  the  Judicial. 

In  making  this  change,  the  present  structure,  with 
one  exception,  will  remain;  but  one  important  ad- 
dition is  recommended: 

(1)  Abolish  the  Senate.  It  is  in  no  sense  a  re- 
presentative institution — representing  only  a  certain 
class  and  type  of  men  and  a  certain  class  and  type 
of  business. 

and  have  them  complete  the  transaction,  or  have  the  ship  built  by  the  public 
which  has  no  knowledge  of  ships  or  shipbuilding.  The  point  to  be  brought 
home  to  his  audience,  of  course,  is  that  our  Representatives  in  Congress 
know  what  the  people  want  and  are  better  able  to  transact  the  public  business 
then  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  who  are  not  equipped  for  such  business. 

In  theory  Mr.  Shaw  is  correct.  We  need  experts  to  carry  out  our  prospect- 
ive undertakings  and  one  man  in  this  may  do  more  successful  work  than  a 
million.  But  for  instance  you  desire  to  build  a  house — you  employ  an  archi- 
tect to  do  the  planning  and  the  carrying  out  of  your  wishes  and  desires.  But 
mark  the  difference.  Under  our  present  Republican  form  of  government,  your 
architects,  without  consulting  you,  decide  for  you,  and  the  nation  of  which 
you  are  a  part,  that  you  need  a  ship(or  a  railroad  or  a  canal  or  a  law)  and  also 
decides  what  that  ship  shall  cost,  what  kind  of  a  ship  it  shall  be,  what  par- 
ticular use  shall  be  made  of  it,  and  you,  or  rather  the  people  have  nothing  to 
say  about  it,  either  as  to  its  necessity,  its  use,  or  its  cost — you  simply  have 
to  accept  it  and  pay  the  bill.  The  only  thing  left  for  you  to  do  in  case 
you  are  dissatisfied,  is  after  two  years  you  may  have  revenge  by  dismissing 
your  Representative  and  putting  in  his  place,  one  that  you  have  already  dis- 
missed previously  for  either  stupid  or  dishonest  service. 

What  we  want,  and  the  people  must  have,  are  legislative  architects  selected 
by  the  people  and  delegated  to  submit  plans  and  specifications  for  the  ap- 
proval of  the  people,  and  when  once  the  people  approve  of  these  plans  these 
architects  can  carry  them  into  effect,  and  not  before. 

Of  course,  if  Mr.  Shaw  claims  that  the  people  do  not  know  what  they  want, 
or  are  incapable  of  deciding  what  is  good  for  them — that  is  another  story. 

[158] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

(2)  Retain  the  present  House  of  Representatives 
and  make  of  this  what  will  be  known  as  the  Initia- 
tive Branch. 

(3)  Extablish  a  Public  Approval  branch. 

(4)  Retain  our  present  Executive   and    Judicial 
branches,  with  some  modifications. 

(5)  Have  the  members  of  the  Initiative  branch 
elected  for  a  period  of  four  years,  instead  of  two,  as 
at  present,  and  the  President  for  eight  years  instead 
of  four. 

The  Initiative  branch  would  resemble  in  many  re- 
spects our  present  House  of  Representatives,  and 
would  be  elected  in  the  same  manner  as  now  obtains. 
They  would  initiate  all  legislation,  both  those  of  minor 
and  major  character.  Minor  laws  and  legislation, 
with  the  President's  approval,  would,  as  now,  become 
law.  Major  legislation,  of  prime  importance  and 
which  would  affect  the  people  materially,  before  be- 
coming effective  would  have  to  pass  the  Public  Ap- 
proval branch;  and  then,  under  certain  conditions, 
would  become  law  without  the  President's  approval. 

Now,  the  important  change  in  the  form  of  govern- 
ment which  I  propose  will  be  found  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  additional  branch,  namely,  the  Public 
Approval  branch. 

It  is  important  that  I  should  elaborate  this  clearly; 
for  by  reason  of  this  branch  and  through  it,  we  can 
have  a  real  democracy — a  government  which  will  ex- 
press the  absolute  and  unqualified  will  of  the  people, 
instead  of  the  will  of  a  hand-picked  body  of  men. 

I  will  endeavor  to  show  that  what  I  am  pleased  to 
call  the  Public  Approval  branch,  when  it  gives  ap- 
proval or  disapproval  to  the  laws  which  the  Initia- 

[159] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

tive  branch  has  passed,  this  approval  or  disapproval 
will  in  every  sense  reflect  the  prevailing  wishes  of  the 
American  people;  and  that,  free  from  every  form  of 
contamination.  It  will  remove  the  American  Govern- 
ment from  the  jungle. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Initiative  branch  will  not 
be  the  important  mechanism  of  the  governmental 
machine;  and  therefore  the  briber  and  corruption- 
ist  will  find  it  almost  useless  to  spend  his  money  in 
order  to  have  his  pet  measure  passed  by  one  branch, 
when  it  has  to  go  before  the  Public  Approval  branch, 
which  will  be  impossible  to  buy  or  control. 

As  has  been  stated,  the  source  of  all  legislation  will 
be  the  Initiative  branch.  They  will  formulate  and 
pass  such  laws,  minor  and  major,  as  they  deem  wise. 
These,  usually,  will  be  in  obedience  to  the  demands  of 
the  people.  That  is  the  first  step  in  the  legislative 
process.  After  the  Initiative  Congress  performs  its 
labors  and  adjourns,  those  enactments  of  a  major 
character  are  passed  on  to  the  Public  Approval 
branch,  for  acceptance  or  rejection. 

This  branch  will  comprise  the  voters  of  one 
Assembly  District  in  each  state  of  the  forty-eight 
states  of  the  union.  The  Governor  of  each  state,  at 
a  public  ceremony,  will  draw  by  lot  the  Assembly 
District  that  will  represent  his  particular  state.  For 
instance,  New  York  State  has  150  Assembly  Districts. 
Each  district  has  approximately  fifteen  thousand  vot- 
ers. California  has  80  AssemblyDistricts,  each  contain- 
ing smaller  number  of  votes  than  New  York  State. 
The  particular  district  that  may  be  drawn  in  each 
state  may  be  a  rural  one  or  a  city  one  but  when  the 
forty-eight  districts  are  drawn,  representing  the  whole 

[160] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

United  States,  an  average  of  rural  and  city  districts  will 
be  reached,  so  that  when  these  forty-eight  districts 
record  their  wishes  and  desires,  both  city  and  country 
have  spoken.  As  soon  as  the  Governor  of  each  state 
has  impartially  drawn  the  legislative  district  that 
will,  for  the  time  being,  together  with  the  other  legis- 
lative districts  of  the  other  states,  make  up  the  Public 
Approval  branch,  the  authorities  at  Washington  will 
immediately  send  a  fac-simile  ballot  to  each  and  every 
voter  in  the  district,  based  on  registration,  A  new 
registration  in  these  districts  would  immediately  take 
place  and  election  day  named  by  the  government. 
The  majority  of  votes  in  these  districts  would  deter- 
mine whether  the  laws  and  enactments  passed  by  the 
Initiative  branch  should  become  the  laws  of  the  land 
or  not.  Should  sixty  per  cent  of  the  voters  in  these 
widely  scattered  forty-eight  districts  approve  a  par- 
ticular law,  then  that  law  comes  into  effect  without  the 
signature  of  the  President.  Should  less  than  sixty 
per  cent  and  more  than  fifty  per  cent  approve,  then 
the  President's  signature  would  be  necessary,  in  order 
to  complete  the  legislation. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  question  would  be  submitted 
to  these  voters  as  to  whether  the  Initiative  branch 
should  be  recalled  or  not.  If  sixty  per  cent  of  the 
voters,  together  with  fifty  per  cent  of  the  total  number 
of  states,  should  vote  for  a  recall  of  the  Initiative 
branch — a  general  Congressional  election  would  have 
to  take  place  within  six  months.  This  would  place 
members  of  the  Initiative  Congress  on  their  good  be- 
havior— all  the  time. 

It  must  be  understood  that  each  year  a  new  draw- 
ing of  Assembly  Districts  would  take  place,  which 

[161] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

would  form  the  basis  of  the  Public  Approval  branch 
for  that  particular  year. 

The  recall  provision  would  apply  to  the  President 
as  well.  The  President  would  be  elected  for  eight 
years.  If,  in  two  consecutive  years,  the  voters  com- 
prising the  Public  Approval  branch  should  by  a 
sixty  per  cent  vote  demand  the  recall  of  the  President, 
a  new  election  must  take  place  at  the  same  time  as 
the  next  regular  or  irregular  Congressional  election. 

No  fear  need  be  felt  regarding  unnecessary  elec- 
tions. 

We  may  take  it  for  granted  that  if  more  than  sixty 
per  cent  of  the  voters  scattered  over  the  entire  United 
States  as  represented  in  the  Public  Approval  branch 
ask  for  a  recall  of  the  President  or  Congress,  there 
would  be  a  mighty  good  reason  back  of  the  de- 
mand. 

The  President  would  have  the  power  of  appointing 
the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  These  appoint- 
ments should  be  for  life  or  good  conduct,  as  at  present. 
However,  the  people  should  have  the  privilege  of  re- 
call of  these  officials  in  the  following  manner.  The 
ballot  should  contain  the  following  interrogation: 
"Shall  the  members  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  be  recalled?"  If  sixty  per  cent  of  the  people 
vote  in  the  affirmative  on  two  successive  occasions, 
then  the  President  must  recall  up  to  half  the  number 
comprising  the  membership  of  the  Court  and  name 
new  members  to  take  their  place.  It  will  be  the 
President's  business  to  know  what  members  of  the 
Court  are  under  the  suspicion  of  the  public.  Should 
the  President  show  disregard  for  the  people's  wishes, 
then  he  will  be  in  danger  of  recall  himself. 

[162] 


OF  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES 

The  advantages  resulting  from  this  change  in  the 
structure  of  our  government  will  be: 

(1)  The  Initiative  Congress  will  be  in  every  sense 
the  servants  and  not  the  masters  of  the  American 
people. 

(2)  The  Public  Approval  branch  will  in  every 
sense  represent  the  average  thought,  aspiration  and 
ideal  of  the  American  people,  which  should  be  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  all  legislation. 

(3)  Under  this  system  all  lobbying  and  every  form 
of  graft  would  be  eliminated,  as  what  use  would  there 
be  in  a  corruptionist  controlling  the  Initiative  branch 
when  the  question  of  acceptance  or  rejection  would 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  voters  of  forty-eight  districts, 
each  district  representing   several   thousand   voters 
and  these  districts  scattered  over  the  entire  country; 
and  protected  by  stringent  laws  against  outside  in- 
fluences. 

(4)  Under  this  system  we  would  have  suffrage  at 
its  best.    Every  voter  in  these  favored  districts  would 
become  alive  to  his  importance  and  responsibility. 
He  would  feel  that  he  was  deciding  momentous  ques- 
tions for  the  nation — he  would,  in  fact,  be  a  member 
of  Congress — for  the  time  being. 

As  these  forty-eight  Assembly  Districts  would  be 
drawn  fresh  every  year,  and  their  location  not  known 
in  advance,  little  chance  would  there  be  for  the  forces 
of  graft  and  corruption  to  fasten  themselves  in  any 
way  on  the  communities. 

Under  this  plan,  the  voters  of  the  entire  country 
would  elect  and  send  experts  to  Washington.  Their 
duties  would  be  to  formulate  and  pass  laws  for  the  con- 
sideration and  approval  of  the  people's  branch — a 

[163] 


THE  WAR  GUILT  AND  PEACE  CRIME 

branch  which  consists  of  forty-eight  scattered  dis- 
tricts. The  people  will  have  the  right  to  accept  or 
reject  these  laws  and  regulations,  as  submitted  by  the 
Initiative  branch.  Under  this  plan,  the  American 
people  will  become  true  masters  of  their  own  destiny. 
It  is  only  in  this  way  that  the  peoples  of  the  world 
may  overcome  the  different  forms  of  autocracies  that 
enslave  them.  As  new  democracies  are  created,  frat- 
ernity and  brotherhood  will  link  the  nations  of  the 
world  together  and  a  treaty  such  as  was  recently 
signed  in  Paris  will  receive  at  the  hands  of  the  democ- 
racies of  the  world,  the  fate  that  it  so  justly  deserves. 


This  nation  could  not  endure,  half  slave  and  half 
free;  neither  can  it  continue  a  union  of  autocracy 
and  democracy.  It  shall  become  one  or  the  other. 

Never  since  the  foundation  of  this  government  has 
the  Lamp  of  Liberty  burned  so  low  and  so  unsteady 
as  to-day.  It  is  a  light  dimly  burning  in  the  gloom  of 
the  valley — not  high  on  the  hill  top.  No  longer  is  it 
the  beacon  light  and  hope  of  the  storm-tossed  mariner; 
nor  yet  a  guide  for  the  shackled  sons  of  men. 

Shall  we  stand  idly  by  and  watch  the  lowring  flame 
— as  the  darkness  gathers  around  us,  or  shall  we, 
while  it  is  yet  day,  raise  aloft  the  banner  of  liberty, 
reconsecrate  ourselves  again  to  its  sacred  cause  and 
proclaim  to  all  the  world  that  we  shall,  by  the  help  of 
God,  form  in  this  land,  "A  Government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people  and  for  the  people,  that  shall  not  per- 
ish from  the  earth"? 

THE  END. 


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